The Buddy System
by Always Crazy
Summary: Karofsky and Azimio are buddies that seem to be inseparable, they do almost everything together. Their synchronization starts to dissolve however when Karofsky starts to take more and more notice of Kurt Hummel.Kurtofsky.
1. Chapter 1: Monster

**Honestly that summary space is too short, but it makes sense I suppose. The site probably doesn't want overly huge summaries taking up the whole page. So anyways, I would like to say just a bit more here. The Genres for this are Friendship/ Drama, well you could also add Romance to that, but I was only allowed two genre slots. Secondly, don't judge the story off the lame summary, I had limited space. Just sayin'.**

"_**The **__**buddy system**__** is a procedure in which two people, the buddies, operate together as a single unit so that they are able to monitor and help each other."**_

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**_Football players generally tend to stick together. Live, Lose, Win as a team. The top of the social chain along with the cheerleaders whose lives were also run by such standards. You had the jocks, the cheerleaders, the meticulously cool kids, the gangsters, the average kids, the drama kids, the foreign kids, the geeks, the nerds, the glee kids. Which ever rung of the social ladder you found yourself standing on the same held true: you stuck with the people that were similar to you. Oh yes, there was sure to be those students who intermingled, but only at their own risk. Either way each group stuck together like a pack of wolves, and just like a pack of wolves not everyone could be trusted. You had to have that one person that would be by your side no matter what. That person that others expected to be besides you at all times. That person whose movements would become shockingly identical to your own. You had to follow the buddy system.

The moment you step onto high school grounds, you had to make something out of yourself or you found someone else would be making you out to be someone you weren't. Eyes were already judging you from every angle, and they all were obviously thinking one thing: 'freshmen.' For every newcomer, it is written all over them, no matter how much they try to hide it. They look lost for two reasons: they weren't sure were they were going, and they were too new to have a place to belong. Middle school was usually some indication of who you were and what you would be, especially if all your friends traveled with you, but that wasn't always the indication of everything.

For Karofsky, high school would be the life he had in middle school: that of a bully. Though it would be even more than that, he would be a jock and perhaps even keep up his grades. Karofsky was a case where he came to high school already equipped with a buddy, and that was Azimio. He was his best friend, and they had been through so much together, he wasn't sure that would ever change.

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"Hey look I am Karofsky and I-hey! Man,ow." A sullen looking Azimio turned to glance over at Karofsky whose fist had just punched him rather hardly in the arm.

"Azimio I swear if you even imply that I sound like that again my fist is going to say hi to your face." It obviously wasn't the best comeback in the world but the tone in his voice made it clear that he was pissed off. Azimio knew him too well to know he was actually this mad just because he was playfully mocking him. It had to be something else.

"Damn dude! What crawled up your ass and died? It was a joke! You've been this way all day, just tryin' to lighten the mood." Azimio was looking at him as though Karofsky had an alien growing out of his face but he was only concerned for his friend.

The two of them had stopped dead in their tracks to face each other seriously. Karofsky's hands were stuffed into his usual letterman's jacket and his gaze had dropped away from Azimio's almost a second after their eyes had met. Karofsky had something on his mind... something he needed to talk about. They weren't going to do that however. They were dudes. Dudes didn't talk about their feelings and crap because it just wasn't what dudes did. Although they hadn't said a word they had both come to a sort of silent understanding and continued to walk.

The path that lead to Azimio's house was essentially a sidewalk albeit a rather worn down one. It just wasn't as white as a sidewalk should be. There was a sort of dingy layer across it and the weeds carelessly grew up out of the cracks that had established themselves throughout. It was almost mesmerizing to stare down at all of them, but perhaps only because it was such a good distraction.

"Fuck man. I don't know what the hell is wrong with you but this shit just ain't gonna fly, uh-uh. Either you get over whatever it is quick and we go inside and play xbox or you go home and we do this when you are over your shit. What will it be?"

"Shuddup Azimio, just shut the fuck up." An almost incessant rage had possessed his friend leaving Azimio unsure of whether or not he should be angry or worried. Either way it didn't exactly matter as Karofsky silently turned around anyway and started the walk towards his home. Azimio let him be, his friend wasn't in the right frame of mind.

Azimio's house was close to the school. Karofsky's not so much. He hadn't taken his truck to school that morning and instead had planned for his dad to drop him off that morning at school since he and Azimio had planned to chill together afterschool. A simple, idealistic plan that got lost in the day's events. It wasn't even anything major that had occurred, at least nothing major that anyone else had noticed. For most people it was just a regular day at Mckinley, though it was one for Karofsky that made him especially pissed off.

He and Azimio did everything together. Absolutely everything. Karofsky could even recall a time they walked out of their respective bathroom stalls at the same time. He was sure that if he were to punch a kid now Azimio would feel the satisfaction of it. There was no doubt about it: they had a certain connection to each other. Some kind of invisible string that attached them to one another. Sadly, string isn't the sternest stuff. It could wear and tear and strain the farther it is pulled apart. Others could easily stumble upon it, grab a hold of it and rip it apart. They don't even have to be aware of it either. Once someone's placed their foot on that line and refuses to move, it is hard to get away from that person. Every time you try to walk you are pulled back by the hold they suddenly have on you. One day you realize that they have left an irreparable impression on your string and  
though they haven't completely destroyed the connection they have left it hanging on by a thread. Why not just finish the job of completely destroying the string? Well that person has acquired a new position, one where a new string is formed and now you are attached to that person. It will never be the same as the first one, of course not, every connection is different. This new string will however require all the attention, all the time, all the energy. The old string will be neglected more and more until-snap, it's gone. There's only one string allowed at a time, only one person you could be that close to and hold such a connection with. Only one.

Kurt Hummel was standing on Karofsky's string which he couldn't understand. They weren't close to each other at all and just saying that was perhaps an understatement. They were like two negatively charged magnets, instantly wanting to repel each other upon contact. Theirs was a different kind of connection, an unwanted kind. No matter how much he tried to not think about him it was impossible. Kurt was forming his string.

Karofsky looked up at his house as he shuffled the last few steps to his front door. He turned the knob and pushed on the door letting it open slowly. Karofsky crossed the threshold into an empty house. It wasn't like he lived alone or anything, that would be absurd. No, it was more like his dad was at his job that kept their family going and his mom was probably shopping or something like that. She had a job… kind of. She was one of those Avon representative sales people, but his dad's job was good enough that it didn't really matter what she did. As the woman of the house she spent a lot of her time shopping, but he still had to give her credit for being at home most of the time. This just happened to be one of the times she wasn't here. He sighed. Good. He had the whole house to himself to do whatever he wanted in! Then why did his feet drag him to his room? Karofsky fell down face first against his bed, not even bothering to pick up the blankets and put them around him or anything.

Azimio hadn't been around him as much as of late. He appreciated giving out a good beating or slushie to dorks on a regular basis, but he claimed to like variety. They simply couldn't just keep picking on one person all the time, no matter how much they had it coming to them. For Azimio, it almost sounded like a code of morals, but it was more like he simply just got bored seeing the same reaction over and over. He had to do something else to others once and a while or else he feared he would become too predictable. When Karosky started to bully Kurt noticeably more than the others his friend had began to question him.

"Dude, that Hummel kid is a freak but there are plenty of dorks out there all waiting for a good slushie, or wedgie, perhaps even a swirlie." Karofsky's heart had nearly hopped out of his chest when Azimio had brought that up, and he wasn't even sure why, but somehow being confronted about it, it had scared him. Was he becoming too suspicious? Karofsky didn't let any of his fear show, and instead seemed to laugh almost.

"Azimio, he literally carries a sign that says 'Bully me' he is so gay, it's hard to not do anything to him. He has it coming to him. Perhaps if he would try being less gay I would leave him alone, but obviously he isn't trying so why should I?" He said almost brutally causing Azimio to shrug. Karofsky tried to not look relieved but he was. It was obvious that it was a good enough explanation for him as he stood up. They were currently sittting in the locker rooms, practice having ended, leaving them to be the last in there.

"Fine man, alls I am saying is there are other people out there that need to be reminded who they are, but if that is the way you feel by all means, go ahead." He then walked out of there, to go home most likely. From that point on Karofsky had decided he would have to try and avoid Kurt Hummel more. Things didn't work like that though. No one could control life.

The plan to avoid Kurt had been going well at first, but it took a lot of work. They went to the same school after all and though they were lucky enough not to be in the same classes, they had classes that were very close to each other or were just in the same general area. There were only a limited number of pathways in the school. He started to take new paths besides the usual ones, which not only separated him from Azimio more but caused him to be constantly late to class. Even afterschool it took longer for him to get home. After hockey practice was over he always had an excuse to stay longer in case the time they got out conflicted with the time the Glee kids got out. All the extra worrying had caused him to feel more exhausted, and on most days he would just go home and pass out, failing to do his homework. Between this constant neglect of homework, and failing to make it on class on time to do his class work, his grades suffered horribly. Not that anyone else noticed it, but Karosky's grades were fucking amazing and he was secretly proud of it. He had been able to produce some pretty solid A's and B's, but they were all slowly morphing it to D's and F's, C's at the best. His whole life was going down the drain. The worst part was that it was almost for no reason, or at least a reason he could come to terms with.

During these times Azimio didn't question him much because he still helped him to attack the other losers of the Glee Club. Barbaric comments, putting that pansy Hudson in his place, and of course the slushies. He still had a reputation to maintain, but how much more they were drifting apart was becoming evident in Azimio's eyes. It's how this day had been planned. Today they were to chill, today had to be different...and it had been, but not in the right way.

Yesterday evening when his father, Paul Karofsky, had started to lecture him about his recent decline in grades Karofsky couldn't help but think _'fuck this, fuck it all…'_. Why should his only life be suffering because of this? He shouldn't have to take alternate paths, use all his energy to avoid Hummel. He had a damn right to be walking through the same hallways just as everyone else, and he wasn't going to go through with that bull anymore. He would go back to the life he had before he decided to avoid Hummel. His dad had let him off with a stern warning, but if he didn't get his grades up soon there would be consequences.

So the very next day he put his thoughts in action, back en route he walked down the familiar hallways, though not with Azimio. Even though he had planned to chill with him afterschool he had neglected to tell him that he wouldn't be walking odd ways to class that day. At first Karosky's change of travels plans across the school had warranted an odd look from his friend, but Karofsky had managed to get him to shrug it off when he said he was trying that variety thing. So walking solely along the hall, he still looked a threat, but not as much so as he was when he was with Azimio. Almost instantly he was coming upon Kurt Hummel. Whose locker just so happened to be down this hallway…fuck, he had forgotten.

"Great." He muttered under his breath, trying his best just not to do anything… just walk by, go to class. It was pathetic that he had to mentally coach himself, but at least it was working. At least it was until Hummel turned around and gave him that face. That face of terror and shock but mute determination. Karosky found himself staring right back.

"What the fuck you looking at Hummel?" His voice came out threatening, he didn't like it. Kurt stayed silent; it would take him a moment to come up with one of his witty comebacks. Karofsky only had to see his mouth opening to form the words however to snap. He pushed the boy back against the locker, causing him to slam against it and fall.

"Don't let me catch you looking at me again." He said sternly, before continuing on his way to class. Throughout the rest of the day, whenever he seen Kurt, he pushed him against the locker with whatever excuse he had. He just couldn't stand to look at him…hear his voice, though he had managed to get in a few quips here and there. It had made him angry… it all did, and that had been his problem. The problem he couldn't get over.

Karofksy opened his eyes, though it hardly made a difference. It was pitch black still. He lifted his body up from the bed and things got a little brighter once his face wasn't buried down into his bed. The moonlight was filtering in through his window, bathing everything in an eerie luminescent light. Karofsky noticed immediately that there was now a blanket on him, probably his mom's doing. He however was still fully clothed and hadn't gotten a single thing done. It hadn't worked… he was still failing everything and shit was just worse than before. At least before he didn't feel like a downright monster. That was exactly what he was… a monster and Kurt Hummel would never see him any differently than that of what he made of himself.


	2. Chapter 2: Reality is the True Scare

**Not exactly sure if I should have said this already… but I don't own Glee or anything, but if I did I would be pretty awesome. **

**Anyways, thanks for the reviews, they make me happy. :D So keep on reviewing. **

**Full title: ' Silly Nightmares, Reality is the True Scare.'**

Despite how wrong people thought bullying was, they didn't seem to do much about it. In fact, it seemed to put you on top; it made you a force to be reckoned with. A sheer, brute force. McKinley was one of those schools that were willing to look the other way, simply ignoring that anything wrong was going on. Principal Figgins failed to realize anything was wrong on a daily basis. Karofsky was pretty sure that Figgins wouldn't even notice if he started to raise a monkey under his desk and than taught that monkey how to hack into a computer. Then if that monkey was secretly a genius, uncovered government secrets through Figgin's computer, and took over the world... their oblivious principal still wouldn't notice anything was wrong in the world. At least until he was being fired and replaced by a monkey and they were all living in the fucking Planet of the Apes movie. Wait a second. Are apes monkeys?

"David Karofsky, wake up." Thankfully he had opened his eyes before speaking because Ms. Bishop definitely wasn't the mom he had been prepared to tell to go away. It took him a second to realize what was going on, but when he did, he really wished he was dreaming. He was sitting in Biology class and everyone was staring at him. Kind of like a nightmare actually, but he did thankfully have his pants on. He believed so at least, he wasn't going to look down to check.

Normally, sleeping in class wasn't tolerated too well, but along with most things it was overlooked. Most teachers gave you a reason to hate them as though they thrived on hate, but they did at least allow you to bend the rules occasionally. Ms. Bishop looked like she wasn't going to say anything further and walked back to the front of the class, where the eyes slowly followed her back. Not because they were eager to learn, but the teacher wasn't too hard on the eyes either, or so people said.

Putting on the appearance that he didn't give a fuck that he was caught sleeping in class was easy enough, but in reality he didn't like it. There was always something just a bit awkward about knowing that about three dozen people were looking at you sleeping, a time where you couldn't quite control your actions or feel in command. Nobody had dared comment on it however, because you just didn't make fun of David Karofsky.

It turned out that Ms. Bishop had been telling the class about Darwin's theory of evolution and the class had started a discussion about monkeys. Even though that had basically been the whole lesson, Karofsky hadn't been paying attention since the beginning and had eventually dozed off from exhaustion. He hadn't slept well last night and he was becoming unsure of what was a dream and what was reality. That explained the monkey thoughts, but that didn't explain…the other thoughts. Why was he having a conscience all of a sudden?

The truth was Karofsky had always wondered if what he did was right. He knew the phrase 'put yourself in the other person's shoe's' well enough, but it always led him thinking to actual shoes in the end. That person… he had so many of them, different fashions, and they seemed so small… he would never be caught dead wearing any of those gaudy things, and he would be confused having that many to choose from.

Karofsky almost hopped up out of his seat, startled as he heard the bell ring. It was already the end of sixth period and he had successfully dazed off through the entirety of another class. At one time this had been pretty awesome, Azimio being in this class with him, but today it was just kind of unfortunate. Obviously they sat right next to each other, but today you wouldn't have known it from how dreadfully quiet he was being. Azimio was staring at him, but that was it. He didn't say anything, simply got up to go.

When he had walked away the day before instead of continuing to his house, Azimio had apparently considered that to be the wrong choice. What the hell… was he ignoring him now because of it? He thought Azimio had understood he was having a bad day, but apparently that just wasn't how it was going to work. He was tempted to sigh, but he didn't. He was temped to slump out of class, but he didn't, because that wasn't what Dave Karofsky did. He stood up straight and held an authority.

It was the end of the school… time for practice and then home free. He would have made it through this day without incident. Karofsky would have honestly made it though this day without pushing Kurt Hummel into a locker or bringing harm to him. He completely would have if Kurt Hummel wasn't walking his way right now, right in the path to the locker room.

Normally Karofsky hung out a bit after school before getting ready for practice, everyone did, but he was so eager to get it over with that he was making a beeline straight for the place. He had even put it into consideration to just grab his stuff and leave.

Always careful not to let his true emotions really shine through, Karofsky kept up that angry look on his face that probably made him look uglier, but he didn't care. He wasn't even sure his face could form an expression to match his current feeling as he came upon Hummel smiling stupidly at his phone. It wasn't even a 'I am as unhappy as shit, you can't be happy!' kind of feeling. It was more… a 'who made him smile like that?' Karofsky had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he was sure his feet were carrying him faster and faster until he was there and literally punching the phone out of Kurt's hand. For good measure, and possibly stress relief, he also made sure to push him back against the locker and stare him down. Kurt probably wasn't going to follow him, he never did.

Turning around and walking away from the person you've just bullied was probably the easy part. Getting away from the looks of terror and disgust. Out of the corner of his eye he had even noticed a girl whom was obviously repulsed by his actions, but like everyone else wasn't going to do a thing.

"HEEEY!" Angry, but undeniably his voice. Kurt was following him. Karofsky tried his best to ignore him as he walked speedily to the locker room and tried not to think about him… or how his voice sounded odd angry and it shouldn't be allowed.

Making it to the locker room was one thing, but keeping Kurt out of it was impossible. It wasn't like he could barricade the door in a matter of seconds or at all really. Almost a second after he made it, Kurt was in there too, yelling at him. His dad was a pretty calm person, but on the occasions he did yell it was pretty scary. This just so happened to be worse than even that.

It was funny, he hardly heard the words that came out of his mouth but every single thing that came out of Kurt's impacted him as though he were smashing boulders on his head.

"Well, guess what Hamhock? You are not my type!" It was hard to keep cool with Kurt Hummel literally yelling in his face, and though he tried his best to counteract what Kurt was saying, he knew nothing he had said had as much of effect as these words had on him.

"That right?"

"Yeah, I don't dig on chubby boys who sweat too much and are going to be bald by the time they're thirty!" That was the prime insult; not the words necessarily, though those had got to him pretty bad. What got to him the most was that it was Kurt saying them, saying them to fortify his prior words that he wasn't his type. Karofsky felt something kind of snap, and was hoping desperately that this was just some kind of nightmare. Though horrible, at least he would be able to wake from it.

Everything after that was basically a blur. He was warning Hummel, holding up his fist possibly. Hummel was yelling back at him, a big word he didn't understand, and he was daring Karofsky to hit him. Hummel was telling him how ordinary he was… and he couldn't have explained what inspired his next actions, but instead of his fist flying forward, his lips did.

It was almost a nightmare turned into a dream, the second he felt Kurt Hummel's lips pressed against his own. He hadn't realized it, but this was what he wanted all along. Desperately, to feel those soft, plush lips against his own. That soft, porcelain face beneath his fingers. He just wanted him, and he didn't have time to even comprehend how wrong that was as he ran out of breath. He pulled away for air, but not for long. He instantly leaned in to kiss him again, his own selfish desire, only to be pushed back and looked at with a face that would haunt his true nightmares. Karofsky could only watch as Kurt backed away slowly, but he knew in that second that this was neither nightmare nor dream. It was something far worse: reality.

Frustration hit him instantaneously and the only thing he could think was to get out of there. Forget his stuff, forget practice, forget Hummel. Karofsky left as quickly as he could without being conspicuous, his heart racing a thousand beats per second. The battle to calm down his heart rate was almost nothing compared to his battle to keep back tears. David Karofsky wasn't going to cry however, it just wasn't what he did.

Driving extremely upset was almost the equivalent of drunk driving. Karofsky was driving like a straight up maniac and the general public was lucky he didn't go through with his temptation to play bumper cars with them.

"Hm? Dave honey? You're home already- wait! Dave, come back here! What's wrong?" Karofsky had stormed right in the door, right past his mom, right up those stairs and right into his room. He loved his mom and all but he wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody. Unlike Kurt, Karofsky had expected his mom to follow him. It was why he locked the door. So he could lie face down against his bed again in peace.

"David! Open this door dammit, I know something's up. Talk to me! David!" Peace isn't so easily gained. His mom was extremely persistent; he had to give her that. She stayed there yelling for a while, and he was pretty sure she would have kicked the door down if it weren't for the fact she didn't want to ruin it. Everyone has to give up sometime however, and when that time came, Karofsky finally lifted up his head. His eyes appeared to be puffy and red and his face tear stained.

Slowly Karofsky sat up straight on his bed and wiped the tears away from his eyes. Karofsky caught sight of himself in the mirror and almost winced at his appearance. He looked absolutely dreadful. Instinctively he reached a hand to brush through his hair. Then hesitantly he pulled his shirt off to take in his appearance. Even though he appeared chubby with clothes on Karofsky was actually pretty fit. Still, Hummel's words were still ringing in his head. Chubby and bald. Chubby and bald! As though that were all he was to be.

No, he would aspire to be way more than that. Past high school, past cliques, past stereotypes, past Hummel. He had to change because the truth was no one had really gotten to experience the true David Karofsky, not even he himself had. The one that really did sigh, slouched, even cried. The David Karofsky that enjoyed singing, the guitar, chillaxin, and so much more that nobody knew. He was going to change. Slowly, sure. It would probably be unnoticeable at first, but it was going to happen and the first thing he was going to do was check that things were cool between him and Azimio.


	3. Chapter 3: Ch ch ch ch changes

**This chapter was literally based on the song 'Changes' by David Bowie suddenly popping into my head, I thought it fit nicely. :D Well actually it was based on Glee, but Changes is the general theme of this one. **

**You'll see what I am talking about in a second, but I thought my radio was possessed once. We turned it off and it was still playing!**

**Anyways, please review; I would really like feedback and such. :O**

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**His car radio was possessed. There was no other explanation for it. David Karofsky was convinced that his radio could read his mind. It was as though it knew every single thing he was thinking about right now, and found the perfect song to mess with him. No, he wasn't crazy at all. Unlike Brittany's suspicion that her cat was reading her diary, Karofksy was sure that his radio was seriously reading his mind.

"_I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind. There was something so pleasant about that place. Even your emotions have an echo in so much space."_

"I'm not crazy!" He yelled at his radio, before he realized that a shouting match with his radio wasn't the best display of 'not being crazy.'

"_Well, I think you're crazy, I think you're crazy, I think you're crazy, just like me."_

Sighing and not eager to continue shouting at the radio, Karofsky quickly changed the station for the umpteenth time on this not so lovely drive to school. Unable to listen to full songs, only parts before he changed it, he had already heard snippets of: 'Everything' by Lifehouse, 'All by myself' by Celine Dion, 'You're the one that I want' from Grease ( He wasn't even sure why that was on the radio), 'My Best Friend' by Hot Hot Heat (Which caused a thought in his mind that made him want to go drive into a wall as this one made him think of Azimio), and ' Boulevard of Broken Dreams' by Green Day. Almost to school, he hoped this would be the last time he would have to change it.

_"Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain).Ch-ch-Changes, don't want to be a richer man. Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain). Ch-ch-Changes. Just gonna have to be a different man, Time may change me, but I can't trace time. I watch the-"_Karofsky quickly turned off his car as he had made it to the school, just in time too because he was either insane now or on the brink of going insane. Simply turning off his radio before getting to school hadn't even been a thought in his mind. He was too far obsessed with his theory to prove to himself that his radio was possessed. Getting out of his car, Karofsky could only think one thing: '_Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.' _The damn song would be stuck in his head all day.

It had been two days since the kiss. Well, one full day, this would be the start of the second. He still tried to not think of it as often as possible, but that seemed to have the reverse effect. The scene kind of just kept replaying over and over in his mind. Of course he hadn't gone to school the day before, he wouldn't have been able to handle it. He could barely handle it today, but he was sure he could make it. His mom had understood something was wrong with him after the state he had come home in, and allowed his absence for a day. This morning she had even offered to let him stay home again, but on one condition: he told her the actual problem. He had grabbed his stuff and left.

"'Sup Karofsky, Mah boy!" Karofsky found himself high fiving his best friend in front of school, surrounded by a couple other jocks and he was absolutely confused as hell. Yesterday Azimio wasn't talking to him and now he was all of sudden his boy? He had planned to come to school and make up with Azimio, but Damn, that was easy. He found himself wondering what he did right.

"Sup, Azimio." He replied a little happily, and was about to say something else when he was suddenly cut off by the sound of another football player's voice.

"Hey look who it is, Sam! Saaam, come here. We have a gift for you!" By gift, he was sure he meant 'we are going to throw you in the dumpster.' Usually, you would suspect a

slushie but none of them seemed to have one yet today. Poor Sam. He had to go and join those Glee Losers. He usually swung by without incident seeing as he was also a member of the football team, but the Glee Club and Football Team just wasn't something that should be meshed together. In their eyes it just wasn't right; it was why they had to remind him of the choice he had chosen on occasion. Sam lifted his head up to look over at them and actually started to walk towards the group of boys who were all too eager to do something to him. Except Karofsky whom almost actually looked petrified.

Vowing to change oneself was easier than actually putting it into action. He was almost in a full panic by the time Sam was actually there but he wasn't about to shout out for them to stop it or anything. Where would that put him on the social ladder? The Defender of the Gleeks?

"Hey guys, you have a gift for me?" Sam asked rather innocently. Sometimes he didn't think Sam had a brain. All the jocks had started a sort of semi-circle around him with a sort of ravenous look in their eyes and all Sam simply did was stare back at them, his hands a little awkwardly stuffed in his jean pockets. Brave or dumb. Karofsky wasn't particularly sure, either way he was probably more relieved than Sam at the sound of the bell ringing.

As if realizing what was going on suddenly, Sam smiled dumbly and backed up slowly. "Woops, sorry guys, gotta go. Perhaps you could give me that 'gift' later." He then made a run for it. Lucky for him he was so in shape that no one bothered to follow him right away. Karofsky still didn't understand that guy. It was as though he knew what they were going to do all along and had planned for it, even the bell ringing that very second.

"Aw damn, I wanted me a loser to throw." Karofksy managed to refrain from looking at Azimio in a kind of revulsion as all the others seemed to console him. These were the people he hung out with everyday, yet today it was if he suddenly realized how horrible they all were. It was as if his conscience was slapping him in the face repeatedly, finally getting him to wake up and truly see things for what they were.

"Well, I have to get to class too dude, see ya later man." He said, and did a sort of handshake with his best bud before saying goodbye to the others and walking off a little unnerved at the new thoughts that were flowing through his mind.

His thoughts weren't the only thing changing. Everything seemed bizarre today. The first thing he heard after sitting down in first period was an announcement that started off with a little chime.

"_Students… it has come to my recent attention and Ohio's that Figgin's is an unfit principal. So they fired him, effective immediately and put me, Sue Sylvester,in his place, Congratulations, that deadbeat is gone and now things could really get done around here." _ The rest of the announcement was literally just evil laughter from Sue, and a bit by Becky in the background, before it just cut off. It was short, and the last lines were kind of 'interpret as you will,' but it had caused a kind of widespread panic. He saw a couple people around him freaking out and his teacher basically having a meltdown about it, but he felt oddly calm. What was Sue Sylvester going to do that Principal Figgins hadn't? Even he would admit to being scared of her, but she had virtually already been in control of the school anyway.

Most of the rest of the day pretty much went by without fault. It was like the world had decided it would be good to do things his way today. Nobody had questioned his absence the day before and he figured that no one mistreating him in any way or calling him gay was a good indication Hummel hadn't told anyone about... the kiss, or what it probably meant. He was however still extremely paranoid about the whole thing. The guy's best friend spread gossip faster than the media after all and he was bound to tell her all about it. How could he not?

At least that was what he thought. Coming down the stairs Karofsky certainly didn't expect to see Hummel and he especially didn't expect to see the guy that was standing next to him. Just seeing this guy had triggered something, making him angry. He seemed prim, proper, refined. Everything Karofsky wasn't. Glancing at the uniform, Karofsky couldn't help but think Kurt went man hunting at other schools. A thought that had led him to blurting out the question of whether or not this was Kurt's boyfriend.

Instead of answering the question, Kurt turned everything back at him by reminding him what he had done. Kissed him. To which Karofsky made sure to look around to make sure nobody heard before pretending like he didn't know what he was talking about. Childish but totally the way to go. If he walked away now maybe he wouldn't have to deal with this.

Then Pretty Boy talked as though he was the savior of his life and Karofsky couldn't help but push him backwards in a small fit of rage. He understood Kurt coming back at him with all this but who the hell gave this guy permission to join in? Angry, Karofsky stalked off, still hoping desperately Hummel wouldn't tell anyone else.

Which lead to the death threat. All he could keep thinking was that Kurt was going tell everybody and the words had sort of just come out of his mouth. It made him sad to know Kurt really thought he needed to watch out for his life, as he learned the hard way a couple weeks later.

Again, he found his life streaming all into one big blur where he found he was hating himself more and more. Things became bad, so much so that he felt he was no longer controlling his own words or actions. He was watching his life from the sidelines, booing frantically. Even he needed to be rescued from himself.

Over the course of the following weeks he had successfully made himself prime enemy number one of every single one of those Glee losers. They had even attempted to attack him. There was only one person that had succeeded in actually scaring him however, and that was Burt Hummel.

It had only been a coincidence that he'd been walking by their room that day, but the monster inside him had seen Finn and Kurt dancing and couldn't pass up the opportunity to make fun of them. How was he to know that the guy in there was Kurt's dad?

Along with all of that, Karofsky had managed to establish himself as even more of a creep in Kurt's eyes then he already was. Even he didn't know why he took the cake topper. The only thing he was sure of now was how he ended up being in this meeting with Principal Sylvester, Kurt, Kurt's dad, and his own dad, Paul Karofsky.

"Your kid threatened the life of my son."

"Porcelain, is that true?"

"It's not true, I didn't say anything…"

"That's what he said…he said he'd kill me if I told anyone."

"Told anyone what?" This was it. Kurt was going to tell everyone in this room, everyone including his father. Scared, he could only look at Kurt, waiting to hear the words come out of his mouth again. That he kissed him.

"Just that… he was picking on me." Karofsky couldn't stop the huge sigh of relief escaping from his mouth, but it had shocked him. How was it that Kurt Hummel could still be the better person than him? Karofsky still felt the need to defend himself however, and instantly retaliated.

"He's making all this stuff up."

"That right?"

"Hold up a sec., you have been acting differently lately David. You used to get A's and B's. You're talking back, you're acting out and now we're sitting _here_. Let me ask you, why would Kurt make that up?" Now, Paul Karofsky was normally an 'all for his son' kind of guy. He was proud of his football and his hockey, but he had most of all been proud of his grades. His grades that still hadn't risen back to their former glory, which Dave was sure his dad was disappointed in. These were probably those consequences he had said would come, in the form of whatever they would be. His dad was taking their side.

"Maybe he likes me." What the hell had just come out of his mouth? Obviously his father was thinking the same thing as he gave him a really strange look. Karofsky honestly wanted to go bang his head against a wall. How could he have said that? So calmly too. The only thing Kurt had revealed was that he, David Karofsky, was picking on him, Kurt Hummel. Where in that whole thing would he have pulled out 'he liked him.' He obviously had just made things worse for himself if that look was an indication of anything.

"I think we're wasting our time here. It's your job to protect the people." Saved from anything awkward at the moment by Burt Hummel, Karofsky turned to look over at Sue, whom he was talking to.

"Couldn't agree more. After hearing both sides of the story you are hereby expelled. I will not have one student threatening the life of another. If you don't think this is fair, well you could appeal to the school board. You'll leave campus immediately." There it was, Principal Sylvester's final verdict. Karofksy had underestimated her. Someone had finally done something about his bullying; he was no longer a student of Mckinley High School. No longer would he be able to attend the same school as his best friend Azimio, or any of his friends for that matter. No longer would he be a jock here, and definitely not a bully. He was nothing here anymore. Things had changed alright; his life. It had become even more miserable.

* * *

"So, your expulsion was overturned?"

"Yeah, my mom freaked out when she heard and dragged my dad with her to argue to the school board." Karofsky said casually. He would be starting back at Mckinley again in a matter of days. Still, his mom had gotten angrier at him than his school when she had heard about the reason for his expulsion, and he was now grounded for the whole time he was expelled. She had only let Azimio through the door because he had been friends with her son for so long that this was almost his house too. She hadn't even stopped to think that Azimio was bullying other children along with her son.

In a fit of rage his mom had practically ripped all his game consoles out of the wall along with his television set and took them down into the basement until she was no longer mad about this. Which she promised to be for a very, very, very long time. Hopefully it was an exaggeration, but for now it left Karofsky and Azimio with nothing better to do than to talk, which might have been a good thing.

"Dude, I knew you were bullying that Hummel kid too much."

"Every think we are bullying everyone a little too much?" Karofsky said a little sullenly, and before Azimio could even speak again he continued his mini rampage. "Honestly, this is how I've got into this situation in the first place… and the more I think about it, it isn't even fun. I guess it was at first… but now… it's just…"

"Just what man? Y'think I am overjoyed over it? I dunt like to be a horrible person, but who would be if we weren't bullies, we would be right down there too, with the ones we bully. For us it's be on the top or be on the bottom, there's no way we could be those silent spectators now." It was a sort of inspirational speech, well, coming from Azimio. He had forgotten after all these years that his friends possibly thought as deeply as him sometimes. That was what bothered him the most; they were losing themselves in all of this.

An awkward silence passed before Azimio spoke again.

"So Hudson's mom went and married Hummel's dad." Another awkward silenced passed as Karofsky processed this new information. It suddenly made sense; why they had been dancing. They had probably been practicing for the wedding. The cake topper too. It's rightful place was on top of a wedding cake, yet here it was somewhere in this room.

"Can we not talk about Hummel?" Karofsky said a little moodily. He figured that his friend would just put his grumpiness about the subject down to him getting expelled because of him. Karofsky had been trying not to think of Hummel all week, and luckily his dad hadn't come at him with any unnecessary questions, so he was safe for now.

"Sure dude, you won't even have to see Hummel again actually, I promise." Azimio said knowingly. Surprisingly, Karofsky hadn't really seen his best friend in person since the last day he had been at the school. They had texted, but Karofsky had been rather non responsive. Still Azimio had found out what had happened and had finally found his way into his house today. It wasn't like Karofsky was just going to throw him out either.

The subject they had never gotten around to was why Azimio had suddenly started to treat Karofsky right again. It was simple really; he had been upset for that one day, but Karofsky was his best friend, he couldn't stay mad at him for long. He was able to tell he was having issues… so he let him off the hook on those reasons. Well, and one more reason. Azimio had decided to observe him closer… he wanted to know exactly what was up, and he was now gauging his reactions to things. Especially to Hummel's name.

"Why is that?" Karofsky asked suspiciously.

"Because he's transferring schools and will be gone by the time you're back."


	4. Chapter 4: Bed Bath& Beyond

"David, honey, I am going to Best Buy and then to get some ice cream, wanna come?"

"Hellz yeah!" Karofksy called back to his mom from his place on the couch. Hearing Best Buy and ice cream was all he needed to hear to get up off his ass. However, if he had took a second more to think about it, he would have realized that his mom going to these places was extremely suspicious. It wasn't a very mom like thing to do.

Sitting in the car, all buckled up, Karofsky instantly took to texting Azimio instead of paying attention to the car ride. Their conversation pretty much went like this:

'_sup.'_

'_sup. Wat up?'_

'_nothing much,u?'_

'_nothing'_

'_cool'_

'_yup.'_

'_ya.'_

There was almost no point to their conversation… ok, there was literally no point to their conversation, but he still enjoyed texting him. Who wanted to sit in the car and actually stare out the window? Besides, half of their conversations over texts turned out this way, so it was familiar to him and he liked that familiarity. A few more 'brilliant' words were exchanged between them before he finally felt the car come to a halt. A resulting look of horror crossed his face.

"Mom…Mom…this is Bed Bath & Beyond!" He told her frantically as though she had made a mistake, because as far as he was concerned she _had_. A huge one.

"Hell yeah it is!" She replied, an echo of his words earlier. With a sly smile on her face, she crawled out of the car, expecting Dave to do the same and follow her inside.

* * *

"So I was thinking of getting more bowls and such for the kitchen, and maybe some new blinds… there are going to be a lot of people over celebrating the Super Bowl next week. Oh hey, do you want anything for your bedroom?" No, she wasn't talking to herself, unfortunately. David Karofsky had actually sucked it up and crossed over into the entrance of Bed Bath & Beyond.

It had been a tough decision, but it had turned out to be rather hot for February. His mom had taken away the keys and he was absolutely broiling in the car. Even more than that, Azimio had just so happened to have to go, so he couldn't text him anymore. There was no way he was going to be able to sit in the car and simply do nothing. Besides, it wasn't like anyone he actually knew was likely to be in _that _store, so finally giving up, he had walked in not too far behind him mom who was overjoyed to see his face.

"Err, you know what mom, while we're here I am going to go look for a Universal Remote Control, k?" The only thing awesome that had ever been associated with this store was the movie _Click_ and he couldn't pass up the opportunity to reference it in here. Plus it gave him an excuse to not be shopping with his mom, which she looked a little sad about, but he was sure she would get over it.

"No, I don't want anything by the way." He added; he wouldn't admit it, but he didn't like to see his mom sad and he was sure it would cheer her up that he answered her question at least. Just the fact he was in the store had made her pretty happy though, so there was no reason to complain.

"Ok, have fun… I guess." It wasn't like she actually believed he was looking for a Universal Remote, which would just be beyond ridiculous. She hadn't expected him to hang out with her; he was tricked in here after all. She understood that hanging out with your mom wasn't the coolest thing for a teenager to be doing; especially in Bed Bath and Beyond. Sighing, Mrs. Karofsky started to browse items in the kitchen section. She was amused to see what looked like a mini cheese grater, but for garlic. It was adorable!

* * *

Wandering off around the store, David glanced around at everything he could rest his eyes on. It was a slow trek, but he was actually amused to see all the crap they had around here. Accessories for pretty much every room in the house. A lot of them were a little pointless, but he was sure there were still people out there that bought the stuff. There always was. Since the store went in a loop, Karofsky had decided to walk around it. Unsurprisingly, the other side of the store just had loads more crap to stare at. Karofsky was staring up at some paintings and walking at the same time when his foot got caught on an object, causing him to fall almost flat on his face.

'_Good thing no one I know would be in here.'_ He had to reassure himself once more in his mind, as he now looked like a total idiot. There were a pair of shoes a few inches from his face and he was fairly sure they were connected to a person, a person that he was inches from having crashed right into. Quickly, he pulled himself up off the ground, dusting off anything that may have clung on to his clothes.

"Oh…uh, sorry. Must've trip-" Karofsky stopped mid-sentence as he looked up and realized whom he was speaking to, now face to face: Kurt Hummel.

It hadn't been a face he had seen in a long time. Just as Azimio had said all those months ago, Kurt had transferred to a new school called Dalton Academy, or something like that. At first, Karofsky didn't know what to think about the news, though he had disregarded it in his conversation with Azimio he had thought about it frantically afterwards. When he had finally gotten back to school, Kurt Hummel's absence was extremely obvious to him. At first it was weird but as the months went on he found himself able to relax. It was easier for him to focus and his grades had even gone back up. Things had been going great for him.

Karofsky had the most freaked out look on his face, but of course Hummel had to go and beat him at that too. Karofsky was sure that he just had a normal look of shock on his face whereas Kurt looked as though he were about to call in the armed forces to attack him. Well... perhaps that had just been because he had a phone glued to his ear, but he still looked pretty fuckin' scared. As though time had stopped to keep them this way, the two of them stood like that for what seemed an eternity to Karofsky but was probably only a mere five seconds in reality.

"Kurt? Hey Kurt?" The silence was interrupted by the sound of a tiny voice. It took him a second to realize it was coming from the phone.

"... Ah, y-yeah, Blaine... I am going to have to call you back. I'll tell you about it later. Bye." Kurt's voice chimed out surprisingly even with only a hint of fear. Quickly hanging up, Kurt prepared to come at Karofsky with everything he had until he realized it didn't even matter. His number one fear had already walked away.

Karofsky didn't care what this made him. A coward, a chicken, whatever. He just couldn't face Kurt Hummel right now. Especially not when his life had been going so well. Seeing him had only reminded him of horrible times.

Karofsky was fairly sure no more hidden surprises were in this store and continued the loop that led him around the whole place. He just wanted to get out of Bed Bath &Beyond and never come back. It wouldn't have surprised him if there were suddenly a knife in his back by now, one wielded by Kurt. He had every right to kill him, an opportunity seeing as Karofsky didn't plan on even checking behind him. However, it never came. A slap, a knife, even a voice to yell at him. Kurt hadn't followed him, why had he expected him to? Suddenly feeling angry about it, he tried not to think about Kurt as he left the store. With nowhere else to go he decided to sit on the edge of the sidewalk and watch the cars and people go by. Watch other people's days go on. There were a few other creepy people hanging about out there too, but he made sure to keep a safe distance from them. Especially the guy digging through the trashcan talking to himself; he looked strangely familiar.

* * *

Frozen to the spot, Kurt stood unmoving in the middle of Bed Bath&Beyond. Frequenting this store on almost a weekly basis, he had never once had a bad encounter here. This… this was just a catastrophe. Mouth still half-gaping, Kurt willed his feet to start moving in a direction. Out of instinct, it was the one opposite his tormentor went, an instinct he was glad for seeing as his brain had practically stopped functioning. Mindlessly he wandered, somehow trying to remember why he was here in the first place.

Oh right. This weekend he had come back to his house to find the tackiest looking place he'd ever seen. Kurt had even believed himself to be in the wrong house for a second, and was ready to apologize for it until Finn had turned around on the couch with some Cheetos stuffed in his mouth and a whole soda jug in his hand. Kurt watched as his goofy face processed what was going on and proceeded to form a smile, a very…orange smile.

"Kerf!" Oh yeah, he knew his name, and had said it right too. Kurt. It was just horribly warped by the mouth full of cheesy stacks that hadn't left his mouth yet. Between the horrible décor and his stepbrother's godawful manners, he had almost literally fainted. Seeing Finn wipe the cheese across his own shirt was the last straw. Barely managing to hold it together he strode forward purposefully and took the junk out of his brother's hand. Ignoring the protests he walked outside and disposed of it in the larger trash cans before coming back in.

Similar to a guilty puppy, Finn was just sitting on the couch now, staring over at him. He looked a little lost and confused, but was otherwise fine. Then of course he demanded an explanation. Kurt just shook his head.

"No need, that stuff is icky. Where are dad and Carole?"

"They went to get groceries." Finn pretended like he hated going there, the grocery store, but Kurt was sure he went there by himself to go buy the whole junk food isle. Carole wouldn't buy him any of it he knew, and neither would his father if Carole told him not to.

"Could you tell them I went to Bed Bath&Beyond?" The last thing he seen was Finn's face, a look of confusion that hanged out on his face often. Kurt had been unable to handle their house anymore. It was nice to have a woman around the house, but apparently no one had taught Carole what décor went with what, or what colors. It had been an emergency.

A sudden crash was heard, bringing him out of his thoughts. It took him a second to realize that _he_ was the source of it and was now lying in a pile of Tupperware containers. One of the employees had thought it would be clever to stack them into something that resembled a pyramid and put it in the middle of the walkway. Kurt wouldn't have even bothered to get up, no matter how ridiculous he looked, if it hadn't been for some woman rushing up to help.

"Ah! Are you ok? I mean, you just walked right into it…"

"Y-yeah, I am fine. I was just erm… checking their durability you know, they seem to be pretty strong."

"Come on, like I am going to buy that. Now are you ok, really?"

"Yes, Ma'am really." Kurt decided to take a second to study the woman. She showed some signs of aging of course, but of aging gracefully. It was obvious that she was really pretty at one time and the impression she gave off was a nice one. One of constant smiling, generosity, and overall kindness. She seemed like a nice lady to be around, but Kurt knew you had to watch out for people.

"Oh don't call me that, my name is Jennifer" Someone was self-conscious about their age. Geez, either way it was nice to have a name. It was only fair to give up his.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Kurt Hummel." He had stopped picking up the Tupperware containers for a second (because that is what they had begun to do) to extend his hand out for her to shake. Instead he was greeted with a more curious look and he could feel eyes almost boring into him. What happened? Did her gaydar sense go off or something, was she going to back away from him slowly now? The look was kind of scaring him.

"Hey…why are you here anyway?" Surprised, Kurt set down the piece of Tupperware in his hand and looked at her, wondering why he was suddenly being interrogated. The question was rather out of the blue, but he decided it was safe to answer.

"My house was looking a little… gaudy, so I decided to get a few things to fix up." He said with as little detail about anything as possible. Despite the ambiguity, Jennifer smiled at the answer. Confused he just turned away and continued to pick up the Tupperware. Oddly, she did too. Oddly, she had no follow up for her question and there was a resulting silence.

After a few minutes a couple employees had showed up to do their job. Though they looked quite irritated, they got to work in picking up the Tupperware containers, freeing the two customers from the task. Relieved Kurt mumbled a goodbye to the women, Jennifer, and started to walk away when she suddenly called out to him. Only slightly annoyed, he pivoted around on heel to look back at her.

"Hey wait… could you help me pick out some things? I mean… I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want, and people tell me I have great taste, but a second opinion is always good right?" It was hard for Kurt to say no, so he reluctantly agreed and walked back to her.

"OK, so what was it you were thinking?" He dared to ask, following her to the living room section. The women pointed at a couple things that she said she was considering.

"So right now, the living room is painted this really bright orange color and I really like colors so I think I should get this yellow lamp, and these metal cat outlines things are really cool, then maybe this blue trinket and the red…" She continued to point at a few different things, all of which seemed to be a different color and pattern. Kurt looked almost traumatized after a while and decided to cut her off before he had to picture any more of that room. A Clown's dream house was coming to mind.

"No, no, no- I-I mean…" The women stopped to turn and look at him curiously, sad at the reaction she had received.

"Oh… you don't think that would look good do you?"

"Well I- no, I mean…no, no it wouldn't." He couldn't lie about home décor. That was just cruel.

"Oh…." She turned her gaze away from him, looking saddened, rather disappointed in herself. Kurt bit his bottom lip and then carefully walked closer towards her.

"Don't worry, I'll help you." In an almost bipolar mood swing, she brightened up instantly.

"You would? That is so nice of you, dear." Kurt proceeded to point out things and let her know what would go nicely with what. Suggestions, things she should buy. After a while, they were laughing, and joking and getting along quite well. Talk about interior decorating was just what he needed to get his mind off of things.

"Um…Kurt?" She asked almost shyly after a bit of time.

"Yes?" He asked genuinely wanting to know what it was she was going to say this time.

"Well, all this is great… I mean everything you showed me, I am sure it would look great, but I don't want to throw out all my old stuff… and I am not sure exactly what to do with my house décor now that I know it is all wrong. Do you think you could maybe come by and look at it?" By this time, Kurt was pretty sure she wasn't a creep. He couldn't get past the feeling that she was up to something, but he had been convinced that she just had horrible taste and was in desperate need of help. Her clothes had indicated something different, but fashion and decorating were technically two different things.

"Sure, I suppose I could…when would it be ok?"

"Next Sunday? Is that alright?" She asked sweetly.

"Sure." He replied, unable to recall if anything was happening that day or not. Besides, it wasn't like he would be there long and he kind of wanted to see this room for himself.

"Great." She said with a soft, innocent smile across her face as she reached down to produce a pen and a piece of paper out of her purse. Quickly scribbling down her address she handed it to Kurt.

It appeared she was about to speak again, when her phone burst out ringing. Looking at Kurt as if to apologize, she answered the phone and listened to the person on the other line for about a second before nodding and hanging up.

"Kurt, sweetie, I gotta go. See you on Sunday." Though it seemed she would be rather creepy, inviting him to her house and all, she had a more motherly quality about her, so Kurt didn't find her calling him sweetie odd at all. Especially since he found he was usually drawn to motherly qualities like that.

"Toodles.~" He called out to her before going back to look at some things for his own garish living room. Kurt now felt a lot better.

Similarly, Mrs. Jennifer Karofsky walked out the store with an accomplished smile on her face.

* * *

"That letterman jacket... Mckinley, I see." Oh fuck no. The wack job had noticed him and was talking to him, admiring his jacket. Karofsky had no idea why he was even wearing the thing when it was so hot out. Perhaps because it had almost become a second skin to him. Karofsky tried to ignore the creep the best he could by avoiding eye contact and pretending not to hear him. Sadly, the psychopath decided it would be fun to be all up in his business. Karofsky turned to check if his plan worked only to find that the guy was now extremely close. Even worse was that he realized who this guy was: Sandy Ryerson. The first pansy that directed those Glee losers.

Scooting away had been his first instinct, but it seemed Ryerson's was to scoot closer…and closer. Freaked out, he shot up off the edge of the sidewalk and stared at him awkwardly.

"The fuck do you want man?" Karofsky found himself having to ask, seeing as he was right in his face and not saying anything. Smiling a little to himself, Sandy finally opened his mouth to speak as though he were only waiting for Karofsky to initiate the conversation. Hands clasps behind his back in a freakish manner, he fell back a little. Only a little.

"Oh, I just couldn't help but notice that you were a student at Mckinley High… I used to teach there you know, I was a jewel, a gem, a prized possession to that school but I was unjustly accused of doing wrong there. It was a mistake of them to fi- let me go. Well, of course they begged that I stay… but I said nope! How absurd of them to accuse me of such things, I just couldn't stay in such an environment. Their loss!" Karofsky had begun his initial retreat backwards from the time the guy had said 'student' but it didn't appear as if the distance between them was getting any larger. If fact, it seemed to be getting even smaller though it didn't look like the freak was moving at all. It was like he was fucking floating towards him or something!

"Yeah, well tha-"

"So how's that pathetic Glee club doing without me? I'm sure it couldn't be doing very good, they have no hope without me… that Schuester, he never knew what he was taking on I mean there's just no fabulosity or flare without my touch…" Continuing to ramble about things, Sandy got increasingly more insane. At least in Karofsky's opinion. His only hope now was that he was so out of it that it would be easy enough for him to slip away and let him talk to a post. Of course that just wasn't happening. Sandy almost literally clasped onto his arm as he tried to get away. Wrenching free from his grasp, Karofsky finally took off running and hopped in his car. He had left it unlocked earlier just in case he had to run back into it, and it was a good thing he had. Sitting there to take a breather for a second, he ripped his phone out of his pocket and crazily punched the speed dial number for him mom.

"Mom, let's seriously leave Bed Bath&Beyond, like now! I think you've been in there long enough, I am already waiting in the car." Karofsky then ended the call before she had a chance to argue the order and locked the doors. Karofsky felt like one of the people that sat out at sea and were tragically circled by a shark. Except worse than even that. .

Unlocking the door for his mom, David watched as his mom swooped into the car seat, staring at him like he was possessed.

"Is there a reason we have to get out of here 'like now?'"

"Mom, only freaks hang out at Bed Bath& Beyond… haven't I suffered enough?" In a way this would have seemed to have hurt Jennifer's feelings, but instead she only smiled at him.

"Yeah… alright fine, let's go home." She already had the stuff she had bought in the store sitting snugly in the backseat, and hadn't needed anything else. Plus her son seemed to really want to go. Content enough with her encounter in the store, she turned on the car and backed out of the parking space.

* * *

Kurt had walked out of the store a little while after the Karofsky's had left. He was lucky enough to not encounter Sandy, who had moved onto digging in other trashcans. He had a straight path to his car. Getting in, he went to leave with the same thought resonating through his mind that was going through David Karofsky's:

'_Why the hell do stores keep crap in the middle of their walkways?_

* * *

**Please review! Without reviews I don't really have any motivation. **

**Though, that isn't why I haven't updated in a long time. What happened was that I started writing this in spring break and then school started up again, and since I was in the school play that took up all my time. **

**One more week to Glee! Yay! :D**


	5. Chapter 5: TOUCHDOWN

**So, I've noticed when I looked back at other chapters all the little grammatical errors. I hate that! D: The things you miss until you have it already posted, but they seem super obvious once you look at it later. **

**Anyways, thanks for the reviews. :D Keep it up!**

**One more thing: GLEE RETURNS TUESDAY. * Dances* That is all. **

* * *

It took only one glance about the room and its occupants for Kurt's brain to make the obvious connection. Sunday. Sunday... Sunday was a special day to many men across the nation. A day where women couldn't nag at their men for watching football was afoot. It was Super bowl Sunday next weekend! He could see it in the three faces of the people who were conspicuously staring at him as he stood stock still in the doorway. It was in Finn's giddiness, Burt's obvious eagerness, and Carole's attempt at hiding her annoyance. Nobody had to say anything. The greatest football game of year was coming and Kurt had promised to go help a woman with her living room decorations.

Could he be any more less of a man?

Not ashamed of whom he was, but rather embracing it, Kurt had come to accept the fact he could never truly love Super Bowl Sunday like he was supposed to. In fact, he would argue furtively that the only thing that made it worth while were the commercials (that had been lacking lately anyway) and the men tackling each other to the ground. Other then that, it was just another pointless sport.

Kurt tried to assess in his mind what he knew about football, or rather, sports in general. All of them had some form of ball in it, which you did something with, usually threw. Despite their distinctiveness however, Kurt managed to mix up every technical term for anything happening in any sport all the time. Him and sports were like his dad and any fashion trend ever. Neither of them knew what was going with each most of the time.

One time Kurt had decided there'd be no harm in trying to pretend to be into the game. There was plenty of harm. Harm to his pride. Kurt figured that his dad would be glad to know he knew what was going on in Burt's precious land of sports, but the plan had failed miserably since Kurt really had no idea. His dad had actually laughed at him when he yelled, 'GOAAALLL!' when the technical term was 'TOUCHDOWN.' He didn't see the difference, they both meant you scored, but he still never tried that again. The memory was too painful. Instead, he either didn't show up to watch, or silently slipped in next to him to observe.

The Superbowl was different though, it was like the Sacred Cow of all of Burt's favorite things to watch. It was almost mandatory watching in this house. Almost a ritual, they watched it every year, and it wasn't like anyone was suspecting it to be any different. Except for the addition of two more people to the house. There was a chance that could change things.

"Hey Dad, Carole." A smile on his face, Kurt walked into his house the rest of the way. It had only been mere seconds in which he had stood there awkwardly, but Kurt's brain had simply been going a million thoughts per minute.

"Hey son, back from Bed Bath&Beyond?" Burt asked, staring precariously at the bags in his son's hand.

"Oh yeah, Kurt went to Bed Bath& Beyond by the way." Finn said as some kind of afterthought. Obviously he had forgotten to mention it, or forgotten that he had mentioned it. Either way it was painfully obvious where he'd been, so the mentioning of it had been redundant. Nobody took any notice of his words anyways. His excuse was that he was Finn, and that was as good as of an excuse as any.

"Yeah…I was just picking up a few things…for the living room." Not wanting to insinuate too much that the living room was ugly, those were the only details he gave away. He moved to set the bags down on the floor near the wall to make them seem less important. Kurt moved to sit down over on the couch next to Finn and Carole. Burt was on his chair. Everyone's eyes slowly drifted away from Kurt onto the television set, whose sound had only been background noise until seconds ago. It was something that was naturally distracting. Glad for it, Kurt turned his attention to it as well. He usually watch television because usually only stupid things were on, in his opinion, but he didn't want to get into any conversations at the moment.

* * *

"You pumped up for your big game?"

"Yes mom, I am very excited."

"You don't sound excited."

"Mom, seriously." David was staring as his mom, annoyed at her pestering. Their trip to Bed Bath& Beyond the day before had left him feeling rather grumpy, and though he was excited for the game, he didn't feel very pumped up at the minute. It wasn't until Friday anyways. Besides, more people probably cared about the Superbowl even though he was sure Mckinley had its own legion of football fans. Despite their terrifying tendency to lose. His mom finally decided it would be better to just leave him alone, shrugged, and prepared to leave.

"Fine, don't be excited. Just remember, I'll be watching you and who knows who else." With that, Jennifer departed her son's bedroom, where he stayed to sulk over the prior day's events.

* * *

Kurt didn't know how he always ended up at this coffee shop with Blaine, but here they were. Kurt worried that one day he just might have to stage an intervention between Blaine and his beloved coffee, but for now, he wasn't worried about it. It didn't seem like an addiction… yet. The only difference from usual was that Mercedes and Rachael had come to give him the low down on what was going on back at Mckinley. Which happened to be drama with the football team. Football. Seemed to be a reoccurring topic this week.

It turned out that Coach Bieste had forced every single member of the football team to join Glee Club. Which in itself was a miracle. His friends continued to explain exactly what was happening over there at Mckinley. Amazingly enough, Glee club was to perform at the half time show, and the whole football team was to be part of it. At least… that was the plan. Everyone that wasn't Finn, Puck, Mike, or Artie had basically quit Glee, forfeiting their rights as football players and now Mckinley had nowhere near a whole team. The game was in two days, and there wasn't any way that could be fixed. Or so he thought. About ready to unleash his sympathy, Blaine suddenly began speaking, awing him with his football knowledge. He told them the actual requirements of a game, leaving a sparkle in the girls' eyes. When they left he was more than sure they had a plan.

Knowing that Gay Blaine knew this much of football suddenly made Kurt feel like even lesser of a man. If that were even possible.

* * *

Pursed lips, and a straight face, Mrs. Karofsky's obvious discontent with the game could be noticed immediately. Her son had forgotten to mention one small, tiny, little detail. He, nor anyone else for the matter, was playing in the game. Only a couple of girls and perhaps a few of the original members of team. People around her wore identical expressions as they watched their team lose miserably. Where the hell was her son? If his excuse wasn't that he was dead, she was going to make sure to kill him.

It wasn't until the half time show that he actually made an appearance, and even then it wasn't until the end. However, she did find it a nice surprise to see him dancing, singing…smiling. In fact, he seemed to thoroughly be enjoying what he was doing.

In the end, Mckinley won, stunning every single person. Including Kurt, whom she had noticed in the stands, cheering as wildly as anyone else was. Well, almost everyone else. The fine, young fellow next to him seemed more reserved, though he still looked happy about Mckinley's win.

Instead of instantly going anywhere, Jennifer had decided to glance around the stadium. Staring down at her son, it was obvious who he had noticed: Kurt. That look on his face could only mean one thing. She had reined in the right person.

* * *

"Mom, why do we have to have a stupid super bowl party?"

"Because the stupid superbowl is happening." Jennifer Karofsky yelled back across the house before flipping the switch to the vacuum cleaner back on.

"That's no reason, I don't want… oh fucking forget it." There was no way she could hear him now, the vacuum cleaner was too overbearing. As much as he loved parties, he really wasn't in the mood. Sure, they had won their game, but there was more than that plaguing his mind. It was Kurt… it was as though now that he seen him once, he was going to keep appearing, like some kind of curse. Even after the whole game was over Finn had asked him to go apologize to Kurt, like he was going to jump up all of a sudden and do it. It had only pissed him off that Finn would even assume they were going to be all buddy buddy now. Sighing, Karofksy rolled over on his bed. Stupid happy people and their stupid happy parties.

* * *

Having fallen into an almost comatose like sleep, only a trip to the midst of the party could cause Karofsky to even realize one was even going on. A weary look on his face, he stared at a few people, who you know, naturally stared back. Fuck. No one even bothered to tell him the party started, or the super bowl, or anything. He looked like a monster that occasionally decided to leave his cave, yet his mom still let him walk out here in front of all his friends and family.

"Daaaamn man, what happened to you?" Azimio's voice clearly rang out as the others let out their repressed snickers. Irritated, he pivoted around on his heel and walked straight back into his room. The Super bowl would look the same way in his room as it did out there. Besides, they'd still be there when he walked out again. Parties at the Karofsky house tended to last scarily long amounts of time.

* * *

Kurt realized something today. Something important. He had no idea what time he was supposed to go look at the living room! Early in the morning could be inconvenient and a little creepy seeing as the possibility that Jennifer could have been still sleeping, and her family for that matter.( He had decided she probably had one). So that left noon, which was lunch time, and then that pretty much left some time in between that, but he was too hesitant to go. In the end he hadn't decided to go until about 4:30, the midst of the super bowl.

The only good thing that he had going for him was that when he told his dad he probably wouldn't be watching the Super Bowl this year, he didn't care. The only thing that had turned that feeling of joy around was Finn. Kurt was sure the only reason that his father didn't care was that he now had a son that would actually want to watch it with him. Watching the two of them now only proved it.

"Dad… I am going to be going out for a while, ok?"

"Alright son, just be careful."

* * *

With all the noise coming from the house, Kurt figured ringing the doorbell would have been pointless. It turned out that he didn't even have to ring the doorbell. Jennifer had pulled out her sixth sense and opened the door before he even had the chance to. In a feeling similar to getting kidnapped, he was pulled inside the house. He had noticed a ton of people in the living room- that wasn't orange- and expected to be taken there; yet, he wasn't. He was being ushered passed the large group of people and pulled into a side room, where the door was shut. Utterly confused, he turned to look up at the woman who he was starting to think he judged wrong. Only she wasn't there; it was just a door. He turned around. She wasn't there either; David Karofsky was.

"OH. Hey this isn't my room… or my house. Fancy that." Kurt said nervously before he tried to leave. A great plan if the door opened. Like every other time he opened a door similar to this one, Kurt twisted the knob and pushed it. Unlike every other time, the door didn't actually open. He was starting to panic when he suddenly felt larger hands push him aside, though not roughly. Kurt backed away a little bit as Karofsky tried to open the door, looking just as confused as him.

"Dammit mom…"

"Is your mom's name Jennifer by any chance?"

"Yes, why?"

"Oh." A silence predominated over the room as Kurt had backed himself into a corner and Karofsky had gone back to his bed. The Super bowl was playing on his T.V but neither of them seemed to be able to hear it. Both were hoping this was just a nightmare.

"I am not sure what compelled my mom to trap an obviously gay kid in my room here with me… but would you like to tell me something?" David asked after a while, not even looking at Kurt. He was staring at the game, but nothing was sticking in his mind. The Second Kurt Hummel had been pushed into his room he hadn't known what to think. His brain had almost melted just trying figure out what the hell was going on. He knew it was his mom's fault somehow though, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. For the time being, he and Kurt would just stay as far away from each other as possible.

"I am not out to get you or anything so stop-"

"That's not what I meant… look just answer me, how did my mom get you in here?" Sounding completely exhausted, he finally turned to look at Kurt, honestly just wanting an answer.

Somehow Kurt must've sensed it; sensed he wasn't going to hurt him or anything, because he relaxed enough to speak up and even pulled himself out of the corner a bit.

"Well, I met her at Bed Bath& Beyond after you left… I guess I should have connected you two then though, but she was just so much nic- I mean, I guess I just wasn't thinking about it." OK, so all he learned so far was that Kurt had trouble associating him with other human beings but Karofsky let him continue on anyways.

"I can't believe she-ughhh" David couldn't help but rub at his face annoyed. His mom needed to jump out of his life sometimes, why would she do this? The only explanation he could come up with instantly was torture, but then again, she probably had a more reasonable thought in her mind but she didn't understand anything. Often times it was better if she just didn't try to help. Opening his eyes again, Karofsky was startled to see that Kurt was closer to him now.

The second that he had been rushed past the group of people Kurt knew something was wrong, that he had been tricked. He hadn't imagined that the woman he had met at Bed Bath& Beyond could have been David Karofsky's mom at all. They were complete opposites. Still, he found himself admiring her and the lengths she would go for things.

"I can't believe you actually fell for such a thing… like anyone's living room would be that fucked up." There was obvious amusement in his tormentors eyes as he tried to imagine a living room like the one Kurt had described in his story. Obviously, the resulting image was funny because he smiled. Kurt had never seen him smile in his presence before. Still, he didn't like to be made fun of. As was now his natural instinct, he retaliated.

"Hey… she was very convincing you know, I am surprised you guys haven't shipped her off to acting school by now!"

"Oh please, she couldn't even convince people that the sky is blue, and that is a fact."

"What are you calling me an idiot?"

"Maybe."

"Take it back."

"Why should I?

"Because…you are the idiot…meanie."

"Nice comeback."

"Shutup." Despite the argument, both of them were smiling. Suddenly aware of it, Kurt whipped his head around in an attempt to hide his face. What the hell was going on? He hated David Karofsky. David Karofsky was incapable of having any kind of civil conversation. David Karofsky wanted to kill him. With those thoughts in mind, he turned back around, now stony faced. Instantly Karofsky began to frown too.

"What the fuck Hummel, what did I do to you now?" Scared, Kurt began to retreat again as Karofsky actually got off the bed and onto the floor with him, getting closer.

"You didn't have to do anything now… you've already done plenty before." Kurt just couldn't let go of what he did, even though he knew Karofsky though he had given him a reason… it wasn't a good one. Nothing was ever a good excuse for harming another being. He had harmed him in so many ways, there was absolutely no way… except, did he actually look… sad?

"Hummel… look, I know I treated you like shit. I'm sorry." Surprised, Kurt turned back to look at him. It was weird to hear him apologizing like that but it still didn't make up for anything.

"Sorry isn't anything… you threatened to kill me."

"I didn't mean that."

"Then why would you say it?"

"I was scared, ok?"

"Scared I would tell people that you're gay?" Kurt asked this cautiously, knowing that Karofsky wouldn't want to ever admit to anything like that. Probably even now he would lash back at him.

"Yes Hummel, that is what I am scared of. I am gay ok, I'm gay." He said upset, but in an obviously quieter tone. Kurt could see all the hurt in his eyes… and the fear, and a whole wide range of emotions.

Before Kurt could realize why he was close enough to see Karofsky's eyes with such clarity, their lips were suddenly connected in a kiss that Kurt once again hadn't initiated. Except this time… it felt much softer. Unable to register what was happening fast enough, Kurt hadn't pulled. Suddenly, he heard the T.V and about two dozen voices yelling at the same time.

"TOUCHDOWN!"


	6. Chapter 6:Happy Valentines Day?

**So, finally Glee returned. Happy about that, though I am sure Born This Way is going to be way more amazing than Night of Neglect. :D**

**Anyways, I love that people are adding to this to their favorites/ getting alerts for this story, but please review too!**

The whole school appeared to be draped in red, and not the usual red of their school, the overbearing kind of redness. Crimson shimmered in his face; scarlet surrounded him. Different, almost indistinct shades of it had covered just about every visible surface. Either there had been a brutal massacre or something much, much worse was occurring- Valentines Day.

Dave, being the oblivious person he was, seemed to miss the memo. Any holiday that wasn't a major one or important to him, he didn't bother remembering their dates. Usually he just looked out for the signs that they were coming, but this year it had kind of snuck up on him. David Karofsky, on his life, could have sworn that none of these decorations had been there the day before. It was like cupid came and threw up on their school in the middle of the night.

To be fair, his mind had been rather occupied with other things. Everyone had noticed that he was becoming more and more dazed, and he was pretty sure Azimio had stopped him from walking into a wall on more than one occasion.

"Karofsky, dude, I am not going to kiss you." David looked up to stare at Finn whom was staring at him rather cheekily. What the fuck? Kiss him, what was he on about? Did… Kurt tell him something? Then again, he looked a little too calm. Suspicious, Karofsky studied Finn for a second before realizing he was standing in a booth. A kissing booth. Oh.

"Fuck no, stop blocking the hallway." He said before maneuvering around the stupid thing and continuing on to his first period. Not that Karofsky had realized it before, but he had actually been standing in line for it, he had just been having another one of his brilliant 'not paying attention' moments. It all now made sense why it had been taking so long to get anywhere. Glancing back behind him, he studied the line. A bunch of desperate girls were standing in it waiting for a kiss from the star quarterback. Turning back around, Karofsky rolled his eyes. Hudson was too full of himself. He wasn't nearly as hot as…

In normal circumstances math was dreadfully awful, especially first period math. Today though, its mind numbing qualities were to be embraced. The teacher usually believed you were paying attention as long as you were staring blankly at the board. Karofsky had done it so many times that he was starting to believe he had mastered the art of sleeping with his eyes open.

"Ok class, so you aren't really supposed to learn these til' later but for the special day I am going to teach you guys how to graph Cardioids and roses! Now, you guys probably won't understand this because it involves trigonometry and we haven't gotten to that yet, but it doesn't matter. Just try to draw what I draw." Perfectly mind-numbing! He didn't even know what the fuck she was talking about. He wasn't even going to try to pretend to pay attention. Slumping his head down against the desk, Karofsky closed his eyes and fell into a light slumber.

Instead of the sleep pushing the thoughts away, they now flew around in his mind freely, taking over his subconscious mind. Pictures started to form, and he was taken back to the day of the super bowl, back to the moment that had been plaguing his mind.

_For the second time, he had been kissing Kurt Hummel and he had been surprised to realize that Kurt had been kissing him back. It had been a rather nice few moments, but the sudden shouts had surprised both of them. They broke apart immediately. However, even with the knowledge that a huge touchdown had just been made, Karofsky hadn't even dared to look back at the television to check on the game. The only thing that had his full undivided attention now was Kurt, whose eyes were staring just as fixedly at his as Karofsky's were with Kurt's. _

Karofsky had been prodded awake by the teacher whom seemed to be poking him with a yard stick.

"Good, you're up. The bell rang, get to the next class." An unhappy frown was on her face, and he knew something else was upsetting her more than him just sleeping in her class. Perhaps she was being reminded of a time she had bored a date of hers to death in a similar fashion. Quickly getting up, Karofsky made his way out to the hallway to travel to his second period class: English.

"This day is bullshit. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." A coffee in hand, and a serious expression on his face, his teacher began the lesson. Well actually it was a lecture, but he wasn't sure what the difference was, he always seemed to be talking anyway.

"For gullible dumbasses, take you teenagers for example, who believe that the only way to express love is to by that special someone chocolate, hearts, and flowers, this day has been created. Now let me tell you kids something: this is nothing but another holiday to sap you of all your money. Oh sure, you think you love them now, but just wait a month or so you are going to be in a different relationship, and damn, so much money spent on the person you thought was the one. There is always the rare chance they actually are…but that still doesn't stop them from betraying you. That is why today class we will be reading passages from _The Scarlet Letter. _A smart author named Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote this book Children, he wasn't afraid to show people reality. Not some fairytale relationship, no one has that crap. Aldutery kids! Adultery! Sure, now a days we call it cheating and you don't get arrested for it… even though it should be a illegal...but it is still the same heinous crime. Hester Prynne was….." Karofsky tuned out the sound of his voice, surprised he had even managed to listen to that much of that rant. He supposed it had just caught him off guard. Mr. Ferrel was usually calmer. In fact, he seemed like a psycho right now… he supposed the day was getting to him. Karofsky had a feeling his wife had cheated on him.

Not wanting to ponder his teacher's love life anymore, Karofsky brought his thoughts back to his dream, which hadn't been a dream at all, rather a flash back. He couldn't help it: his thoughts just kept automatically coming back to that day.

_Hastily, Kurt had backed away from Dave as if he had suddenly become aware of the situation. _

"_I can't… I have to go." Going back to the door, he again tried to open it. This time it opened normally, surprising both of them. Karofsky had gotten up right after, following him to the door in attempt to stop him._

"_Kurt, hey wait!" He called out,, but it was too late. Kurt had already speeded out the door. Kurt was gone. The million people in the living room turned to looked at him however, their attention having prior been directed to the door where they had seen an obviously distressed Kurt Hummel dash out. Confused, they all had a question forming on their lips, but Karofsky didn't give them the chance to ask it. Closing the door to his room, he had decided to stay there until everyone had left. Despite the fact he was fucking starving and those people wouldn't be gone til' late._

"That Reverend deserved everything he had coming to him, the illness, a man after his life … you just shouldn't tempt a women to-"The sound of the bell ringing cut his never-ending rant short. Eager to get out of there, Karofsky hopped up and left.

The rest of the day had pretty much gone the same. Every single teacher seemed to have some kind of love problem. Mr. Schuester was so obnoxious that Karofsky almost wanted to walk up and punch him in the face. He almost did when Schuester tried to distract himself by telling him how good his dancing was again, but managed to stop himself. Instead he ignored him and strode out the door.

Even as he walked through the hallways he noticed it; a lot of people looked all lovey dovey, but there was also a silent majority who were walking through the halls looking as though they hated their lives, while others were being confident about being single. There was something about holidays that just brought out the weird in people.

Surviving through science class (where they had dissected some animal's heart), Karofsky had finally made it through the school day. Sighing in relief, he made a beeline to the student parking lot where he knew his car waiting for him. Apparently, so was his best friend.

Logically, Azimio shouldn't have been there, especially because they were coming from the same class. Karofsky had walked as fast as he could out here, so there was no possible way Azimio could have gotten here faster, unless he somehow learned how to teleport. That theory could only be backed up in his head by the fact that he couldn't recall even seeing him in the hallway. That's when it had clicked in his mind. Azimio had asked Ms. Bishop if he could go to the restroom about twenty minutes ago and he had never come back. Wow, so if he had actually been there, Karofsky would have just ran out of there without him. What a great friend he was.

Uncrossing his arms, Azimio moved away from the car door and a little more towards him.

"Open the door, I am coming over."

"Who said you could?"

"Come on man."

Karofsky sighed, who was going to stop him really? It wasn't like his mom cared whether or not he brought Azimio over. They had more then once established that he practically lived there. Karofsky walked over and unlocked the door for Azimio before going over to his own side to unlock his own door. Curiously, he wondered if Azimio would have been waiting for him _in_ his car if he hadn't locked it. Probably.

The drive was silent, more silent then it should have been and Karofsky found himself panicking. Did he do something wrong? Why was Azimio demanding him to take him back home with him? Was he paranoid? Why the hell was he doing this on Valentines? All these questions in his mind didn't help contribute to the fact that he'd been more spaced out lately and distracted. It was only after Karofsky had run a stop sign that Azimio decided to say something.

"Man, calm down! You're driving like a fuckin' maniac. Pay attention to what you are doing before we're in tomorrow's obituaries. I can't be doing that to my mama. Can't come home dead."

"Sorry." Karofsky muttered though they were already pulling up into his driveway, so he was spared having to drive any longer and the general public was spared their lives.

"David, is that you? Hey could you- oh hey, Azimio. Never mind dear." Karofsky stared at his mom who was poking her head out of the kitchen. Well at least Azimio was good for getting him out of work. He just knew his mom was about to order him to do something. She simply retreated back into the kitchen, allowing him to take Azimio back up into his room. Although his friend had greeted his mother, he was still eerily silent, and that only meant he wanted to talk.

"So um…why-"

"Why do I wanna talk?"

"Yeah… that." The two of them were sitting on Karofsky's bed, and an odd tension now stood between them. It was weird; Karofsky had no idea why it was Azimio wanted to talk him, but he was already panicking over it. It was possibly because the only time Azimio ever initiated the talk was when it was something serious. Then the only time when he talked anywhere near serious was when the issue really was serious. Besides that, his stare would have caused anyone to go into a panic.

"You want to know why I want to talk… because we haven't been talking at all in the last week or so, and I know you aren't ignoring me. Hold up, before you even question that, I could tell that you are distracted, I think the whole school could."

"Oh so you noticed that." Karofsky hadn't actually meant to say it out loud, but it had just spilled out. Great. He had just admitted to it and now Azimio was going to ask why. Then again, he was full of surprises today.

"I am not even going to ask." That was it? That was all he was going to say, after all this sitting down and getting serious? Still, Karofsky felt a sense of relief shoot through him. He didn't want him to ask, because he wasn't very good at fabricating lies on the spot.

Any relief he may have had slipped away instantly the second his best friend spoke again, his words horrifying him.

"I am not going to ask because I think already know. Are you… gay?" Alarms went off in head, signaling a high alert defensive state. Oddly though, the question that formed in his mind was one of those 'what do you do' kinds, where he had a couple options. A.) Kick him and run. Run where? B.) Dismiss it, deny. Deny! Deny! C.) Laugh. Laugh like a lunatic until he leaves. D.) Tell him the truth…

"I… I...yes." Karofsky said this extremely quiet, and muttered it in such a fashion that it was unintelligible. Somehow Azimio was still able to understand it.

Telling his best friend he was gay, Karofsky had sort of expected a much worse reaction. In fact, he expected to kind of be punched in the face and almost braced for it until he realized Azimio didn't even seem to be moving. Not a single word had come from his mouth either. The oddest part of all of this though was that Azimio was only confirming, not asking.

"Wait, you don't…hate me?" Karofsky asked for lack of a better word. By this time Azimio had already stood up and had begun his walk to the door. He had gotten what he wanted to know and now he was leaving, but the question had caused him to stop and turn. He seemed to wince a little.

"No, I hate me." With that, he left.

*** P.S. My friend is supposed to read this first and make sure it doesn't sound horrible, but I don't know where she is right now, so smeh. So really, please review. Even if you are yelling at me about something, I would like to know if you didn't like something. **


	7. Chapter 7: Karofsky and Azimio

"'Sup, Karofsky and Azimio!" There was a resulting high five, as was one of the customary greetings between jocks, before his fellow football member continued on his way.

Azimio could only find one problem with this: Karofsky was in no way next to him. He wasn't beside him, above him, he was pretty sure he wasn't below him and he was confident that he wasn't hiding in the nearby trashcan. Unless Karofsky had painted himself with invisible paint that morning and was secretly standing next to him, he wasn't there. Azimio wasn't Azimio anymore. His new name was Azimio and Karofsky.

In normal circumstances he hadn't noticed it, because in normal circumstances Karofsky was actually next to him. Now he realized that they were now so closely associated that it didn't matter if one of them was missing, that was all they were. A pair. People probably believed them literally to be conjoined at the hip, but it wasn't so, especially not lately. Anytime something arose with Hummel, his best friend appeared to be missing. Some people took notice; others kind of just treated him as though his best friend wasn't missing at all.

The worst part about being best friends with someone was that people thought you wanted to know every single thing that was happening with them. Even things that were already known. He did not want to hear everything about Karofsky. Either he knew already or it wasn't something he needed to know.

"Dang, in class today Karofsky looked totally spaced out, what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know."

"Hey Azimio! Wassup! Hah, Did Karofsky forget who he was? He seems to be out of it lately… is something bothering him?"

"I don't know."

"Yo Azimio-"

"I don't know." It had become his automatic response to everything because it was the truth. Lately, he just didn't know what was going on with Karofsky. It was sad to say, but they were drifting apart. Everything his friend did was becoming increasingly odder, and just like everyone said, he was becoming less and less aware of his actual surroundings. Yes, he really had almost walked into a couple of walls.

When your surroundings changed, so did your role in life. Thus, Azimio had become the silent observer. Ever since that day he had the first talk with his comrade, he had been committed to this.

In what could only be called 'stalker status', Azimio had kept a close watch on Karofsky's every move. After Hummel had left he however, he had seemed perfectly fine and there had been no odd behavior for him to observe. That was the second indication that Karofsky's problem was linked with pretty boy. The first had been the excessive bullying.

The third proof he had was at the Super Bowl Party when every single person there had witnessed Kurt Hummel dashing out of David Karofsky's room. That was the third strike. To Azimio, Karofsky was now out. That was when he decided his suspicions were correct.

It wasn't like he had planned to confront his best friend on Valentines Day. Not only was that not the right time, it was kind of cruel. It was like reminding someone they were never going to be loved on the day they were supposed to be loved the most. It had just kind of happened.

Similar to Karofsky, Azimio had sat through classes such as 's. He had gotten the same Scarlet letter rant. Plus other rants that seemed to involve some kind of situation where love went wrong. Having been observing things for a while, this was something else that hadn't escaped his notice. Every single one of these people just needed some help. They all needed advice, support, or maybe even a push in the right direction. Loving someone wasn't always easy, but if you had someone to support you with it on the way, it sure helped.

It just so happened all these thought had accumulated in his mind on the way back from the bathroom during Science class. That was when the plan had formulated, and that was when he had decided it was time to have a talk with Karofsky.

Having his best friend confirm he was gay was perhaps the most awkward conversation he had ever had. Azimio had already guessed it… but it still didn't stop it from being weird, and it was easy to assume Karofsky could even have a crush on him. Though he knew this obviously wasn't the case. He knew that Karofsky had fallen hard for Kurt Hummel.

"No, I hate me." Azimio's parting words now echoed through his mind. He hated himself for many reasons. He hated that all this time he had partaken in the bullying of gay people when the very person besides him was gay. He hated himself for not being able to handle it, for having to walk away. He hated that he was nothing more than someone associated with Karofsky. He hated himself for thoughts of abandoning their friendship. He hated himself for even considering it. He hated himself for falling right into the trap that was high school popularity.

Though he had already left the Karofsky household and was now making the lonely walk back to his house, Azimio suddenly felt he was more close to his friend than ever. There was something he wouldn't hate himself for: being there for his best friend. It was time to come to a decision, and that was just what he did. He wasn't going to abandon him, he couldn't. He was his buddy and that was violating the system.

* * *

**Yeah, this is a pretty short chapter… but I don't think it really needed to be any longer. **

**Also, has that ever happened to anyone else? Someone really almost called me 'Marta and Melissa' once.**

*** Two days away from 'Born This Way' :DDD***


	8. Chapter 8: Dalton Academy

**Don't panic when you start reading this chapter. Yes it is Kurtofsky, but Darren Criss's hotness needs to be pointed out too. :3**

* * *

Dalton Academy: a place of prestige, of genius architecture, of acceptance, of…boys. Boys everywhere. They filled every lunch table, every dorm, every nook, and every cranny. They flooded the halls in such a proud manner that they no longer walked; they strutted. Nobody was scared here to be who they were going to be, and no one was shunned for expressing themselves.

For Kurt, everything here had been a dream come true. Nothing like how Mckinley had been. Upon first arriving to his prior school he had either been flat out ignored or some underhanded comment had been made about him, but here, he had practically been serenaded by a HOT guy and his HOT backup singers. At the time he hadn't been considering going to the school, but if that wasn't a welcome party, he didn't know what was. 'Teenage Dream' had fit the situation perfectly. The guys there were so nice that they even all laughed about it later when Kurt told them he had been spying on their Glee Club, the Warblers, and they already knew! It was the perfect cheesy moment.

Of course the main HOT guy had stood out to him the most.

Blaine Anderson was the most wonderful thing Kurt had ever seen. Unfortunately, he was also the most wonderful thing a lot of people there had ever seen. He was HOT, and he sang, and oh yeah, he was HOT. Lucky for Kurt, he just happened to be the first person he encountered there, and Blaine had instantly become someone he enjoyed talking to. With the bond of the word 'courage' between them, a great friendship had started. Something more too he hoped.

So then the transferred happened. Kurt had felt extremely bad about it at first because his dad and Carole hadn't been able to go on the honeymoon they deserved, but he had also felt really loved that they would actually do such a thing. In the beginning they really hadn't wanted him to leave him so they drove him the 90 or so miles from their house to Dalton Academy for about a week. That had gotten old real fast. The gas prices were simply outrageous and Kurt had told them it was ridiculous in the first place! The distance between the cities was horrifying, but it was manageable as long as it wasn't traveled everyday. For the most part, everyone found they were able to convince themselves that the cities were practically neighboring, and they treated it as such.

Kurt hadn't gotten a dorm room with Blaine however, because he already had a room mate, but he had been in with another member of the Warblers. So that was fun. Everything at Dalton was fun, but also hard work. For the amount of fun he had, the amount of exhaustion doubled. They expected a lot of him, so he found he was studying more and more often. His only sanctuary was the Warblers practice, and even that wasn't very relieving.

Unlike Mckinley, the Warblers tended to center around only one person. In New Directions they at least let everyone sing once in a while, but here it all went back to that 'everyone seems to love Blaine' thing. He was the only one singing solos, and as much as he loved Blaine's voice, he also got tired of it. That was until Blaine asked whether or not it was cheesy to sing to the one that you liked. Kurt had been so excited because well… they had been hanging out so much, Kurt didn't see how it could be anyone but him. It had caused a permanent smile to be plastered on his face for while. Well… when he didn't find his mind drifting off to other things. Such as karofsky. He was a trending topic in his mind.

That's right. Kurt was thinking about David Karofsky. At first the thoughts had all been bad, since the encounter at Bed Bath and Beyond. Sometimes however, he found himself laughing about it as he remembered the sight of Karofsky tripping and falling right in front of him. That had been both hilarious and terrifying, but if he took out the fear it could only be funny. Sometimes the image had even left him smiling through the hallways. All this of course had been before the Super bowl fiasco. It was possible he could never hear the word 'touchdown' again without blushing.

Sure, being locked in a room with your worst nightmare was petrifying, but when your worst nightmare started to morph back into something able to be called human, things changed. Having a civil conversation, laughing, joking… yes it had gotten a little awkward again, but for Karofsky to admit the truth, that he was gay, it had made a sort of impact on Kurt. It was as though he had accepted that it wasn't a bad thing, and though he couldn't tell everyone else, he could tell him. It was… a moment he supposed, and he had been so caught up in it, that when he was kissed, his own lips had kissed back automatically.

It wasn't something he could ever readily forget but when it got close to Valentines, and Blaine had asked the prior mentioned questioned, he had just been so extremely giddy that even that slipped his mind. He found himself practically running to Warbler's practice everyday, anticipating the time that Blaine would sing to him. It wasn't even a question in his mind whether or not he was the one Blaine liked. It had to be him! Instead, he had changed the question in his mind to 'what Blaine was going to sing to him.' Finally it happened. Blaine had an announcement to make.

It was what he had been waiting for, anticipating, yet, when words started coming out of Blaine's mouth, none of it made sense. Kurt rather liked the idea of being sung to in another location, preferably a romantic one, but…

"Why the Gap?" Kurt had found himself asking a little skeptically, but if Blaine wanted to sing to him in a store with the rest of the Warblers, he wasn't going to stop him. He would accept that. He would accept it even if they were in a dump and the whole world happened to be watching and singing along.

"Oh, because the guy that I like is the senior manager there." What the hell. Last time Kurt checked, he wasn't the senior manager at The Gap. Oh wait a second…

Blaine had been sitting up on a high, high pedestal in Kurt's mind until that announcement. With that he had just fallen off of it and hit every step on the way down. The two of them had spent almost every waking moment together, Kurt being rather suggestive on more than one occasion, yet Blaine goes to the mall once and falls for some guy that works at the Gap? It must have been one hell of a shopping trip.

* * *

OK, so anyone had to admit that Jeremiah had been attractive… but he was a jerk (sorta) and had a good point, he was older than Blaine. Any point he made was a good one to Kurt, because it meant that Blaine wouldn't be dating Jeremiah, and that meant a happy Kurt who still had a chance. All's well that ends well.

Right, so falling off that pedestal? Blaine had been allowed to crawl back up it a bit, Kurt couldn't help it. Every time he was with him, it just made him happy. Besides, Kurt had told Blaine the truth: that he had thought that Blaine was going to sing the song for _him_. It seemed to put a crack in the thick wall that was Blaine's obliviousness, and it could only go uphill from there. Kurt was crawling right up to Blaine's pedestal to sit in his lap.

Rachel had been a little speed bump in the road at one point, as weird as that was, but they got through that. Even Kurt's apparent lack of sexiness (so Blaine told him) hadn't stopped it from happening. It being a kiss! The kiss had made him so ecstatic that he didn't care that Blaine had told him 'he moved him' instead of he 'liked him' like any normal person, would. It wasn't until later that he had actually thought of the oddity of that statement, but he didn't care, it was cute now because they were dating. It had to be, right?

Kurt found it a little odd that Blaine didn't see how much he lov- was moved by Kurt until he heard him singing Blackbird by The Beatles. A song dedicated to the death of Pavarotti, the bird he had received upon arriving there. A yellow bird who had only known the cage all of it's life, but Kurt had loved dearly. The attachment he had formed with it was almost creepy, but it was a deep one, and he was sure Blaine had seen that. Just how much love he had for that Bird… and he could understand how it was 'moving', so the word fit, but what did that really mean?

"_Move in on, __Informal __. _

_a. _

_To approach or make advances toward usurping another's success, authority, position, or the like. _

_b. _

_To take aggressive steps to control or possess"_

No lie, that definition had sent him off on a whole other thought process, but Kurt was fairly sure that Blaine had meant this definition of the word:

"_( __tr __) to arouse affection, pity, or compassion in; touch"_

Alright, but did that really mean the same thing as 'love'? They were two different words for a reason. Even if 'move' was just 'love' with an 'M'.

"–_noun_

_1._

_a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person._

_2._

_a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection_

_3._

_sexual __passion__ or desire."_

Kurt sighed and set the dictionary down. Well when you put it in those words that sounded like Kar…of…sky. The second Kurt had realized what he was thinking about, it was too late. The thought had already come. Slowly, Kurt set the dictionary down onto his bed, the place he was sitting now.

Falling back onto his bed, instead of clearing his mind, Kurt let the thoughts fly to him. He wanted to think about this. Why had Karofsky been bullying him?At first, Kurt thought he just had some serious anger issues and the brain of a peanut and didn't know what morals were, but the case had turned into him being secretly gay and having a crush on him, or something that could be described as one. Perhaps it was more of an obsession… but, it was more compassionate than that, the kiss(es) they had shared had revealed that to him.

As creepy as it sounded, Kurt was able to relate Karofsky to him and Pavarotti. Kurt was like Pavarotti in this instance, and Karofsky was like him. Kurt wasn't a small bird, but he was a little thing that got to Karofsky. He was the truth, and he was what Karofsky wasn't, out and proud. Kurt, the 'truth', had to be kept in a cage however because if he, or it, ever got out there would be consequences. In the bird's case, he would literally be flying away, leaving the cage that was completely familiar to him. Similarly, if the truth got out, Karofsky would lose everything that was familiar to him. Everything that he was used too, the safety. On the other hand, a cage was also something that held one back and beyond it was a whole new world. Either things were going to go right in it, or they were going to go wrong. When had life never been like that?

On the same thought, it wasn't until after Pavarotti, or the truth, died that he had finally gotten what he wanted: Blaine. So if the truth died, didn't that leave a lie? Was what his relationship now only a lie because the truth was dying, because Karofsky refused to let it out? That he loved Kurt, while Blaine was only 'moved' by him?

The thoughts were swarming around in his mind now mercilessly, and he didn't like it. Nothing was making sense anymore… nothing at all. The only thing that had brought him relief was the sound of his phone buzzing, bringing him out of his deep, disconcerting thoughts. Kurt reached forward and latched onto the phone, turning it over so he could glance at the screen. It was an unknown number but Kurt opened it anyways. His eyes widened upon seeing the message.

" _Hummel meet me at the lima bean on saturday at 10:30 am just do it"_

* * *

**Sorry that it took a little long for this update. I was actually unsure of what to write, but it came to me, and I am pretty sure I know where I am going for now. :)**


	9. Chapter 9: Curiosity Stalking

**Sorry; this update took a rather long time. I believe I started writing this chapter about… close to two weeks ago, but since then I have been busy. School is ending which means there are like a billion tests and projects to do. That's just how it is. =/ Meh.**

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Some people say that curiosity killed the cat. Others say cats have nine lives. Does that mean they have nine chances at being curious? Others take a more literal stand on it and realize that humans are not cats, and no one ever actually said curiosity killed a human. Then others simply have A.D.D and seriously contemplate why it is that anyone would sit around and come up with all these sayings about cats. Oh bless their poor little souls.

The Lima Bean was a popular place, anyone could see that. Not only did people go there to hang out, they actually bought the coffee. That was saying something, seeing as most people only came to most coffee shops to hog up all the tables and chat with their friends, or sit by their lonesome and type on a computer. Sometimes people even came to seal a business deal, but that still wasn't buying the coffee.

To Kurt, all this clearly begged the question as to why he would be invited here of all places, where people constantly streamed in and out. He had no idea who it was he had to be meeting here, but he had come anyway, because yes, he had been curious. Alarms had rung in his head, all that said this was a bad idea, yet he had made a decision to go through with it anyways. It isn't the initial curiosity that kills the human, it is the resulting stupidity.

Glancing around cautiously, Kurt tried to pinpoint someone that looked like they wanted to talk to him. Which happened to be no one… well what did he expect, a giant sign? Sighing, Kurt slipped into a miraculously empty table and tried to look inconspicuous.

It wasn't until he seen someone trying to act just as inconspicuous that he noticed anyone else. Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt had glanced Azimio walking through the door with a pair of sunglasses on. It seemed as though he had been attempting to go incognito, but had decided against it at the last minute.

Hoping it was only coincidence that Azimio had strolled into the joint, Kurt made it a point not to stare at him, or look that way, or even think about him because well… it might actually somehow bring him to the table. It wasn't working, and in fact was failing miserably. Azimio had practically made a beeline for his table and it wasn't long before he was right next to him. He didn't even sit down, and instead pulled Kurt towards him to whisper into his ear.

Kurt's first thought was that Azimio had begun making surprise appointments for his bullying. It made things more efficient and kept the element of surprise. Smart, but suspicious. Kurt had never actually associated Azimio with the word smart. So what the hell was happening?

"Hummel, I need to talk to you. I am only going to say this once because if I whisper in your ear any longer it will look like flirting, if it is a short whisper people just think it is a death threat. I am going to drag you out of here; play along."

"Why should I?"

"Fuck Hummel, I just said I need to talk to you. We can't skip out of here holding hands, come on."

Yeah, cause that is exactly what he wanted to do. That was what every gay guy wanted to do all the time. Hold hands and skip everywhere. Nonetheless, he decided to just go along with it because he wouldn't put it past Azimio to actually punch him in the face if he didn't move.

"Come on Hummel, it's time to have a talk" Azimo had said this out loud and had put a certain emphasis on _talk. _Only a couple of people actually appeared to be looking at them, but he knew that everyone was listening. It was understandable why Azimio felt he had to put on a show to get them both out of there together. Without much of a hassle, Azimio was able to get Kurt out, and Kurt managed to look appropriately frightened. He struggled, and even yelled insults.

So, how they ended up in Azimio's car was beyond him, but here they were. Kurt glanced over at a hat sitting forlornly in the backseat, and he couldn't help but think that it had been the discarded piece of Azimio's incognito outfit.

Kurt couldn't bring himself to say anything; he wasn't the one initiating the conversation after all, why should he say anything to fuel it. Instead he chose the alternative, which was sitting in an awkward silence with one of his bully's until said bully decided to say something. Instead Azimio turned the key on and drove.

"Oh my gosh! Is this a kidnapping! Azimio, stop this car-"

"Will you shut up man, look, I know Karofsky is gay ok."

"So what are you going to drive us off cliff? Take your anger out on gays in general and yourself for being friends with one?"

"Wha-? No man, that's freakin' nuts. I'm not psycho."

"Could've fooled me… wait, you know?" The implications of what Azimio had just said sunk into his mind, causing him to seriously wonder what it was Azimio was doing. If he wasn't going to go drive off a cliff, this was a better reaction then Kurt thought.

"Yeah, I just said that didn't I?" Azimio looked a little more reserved now, staring solely on the road in front of him. It didn't appear as though he were up to anything bad for once, but then what was he planning to do, especially with him?

Pulling over to the side of the road, Azimio turned and answered the question as if reading Kurt's mind.

"We are going to stalk Karofsky."

* * *

Sleeping for ridiculous amounts of time was a critcical part of his weekend. At least that is what Dave told his mom. Of course she didn't believe him, she never believed him about anything. She never believed him when he claimed to be sick, or even when he said the Martians were invading. Once time he said the British were coming. Good thing he wasn't Paul Revere. Well the truth was everything he said was partly true. Usually his 'sickness' was that he had a headache of some sort, the Martians were invading his T.V, and the British were coming to town too. His English teacher had said an English foreign exchange student would be visiting their class. Truthfully, he had been kind of excited for it because British accents were cool.

His mom honestly just couldn't let him be however. First she walked in and opened the blinds and walked away. Dave was too lazy to close the blinds. She then started to literally throw a parade with the pans in the kitchen. It sounded like she decided it would be fun to throw them all against the wall and then kick every single one for good measure. Sadly, it was going to be one of those 'sick' headache days. Sighing, he eventually rolled out of bed and traveled down into the kitchen.

"Mom, were you trying to kill a fly with a pan again?"

"Haha, very funny David, you know the fly swatter was broken. No, I am making breakfast." Looking around, he realized that was true. There did appear to be food cooking.

"Welp, I am going to Dennys." Dave promptly pivoted around on his heel towards the door.

"David!"

Alright, alright. Here I will help you." He said, before going over to attend to some of the food. In the end, they had managed to concoct a meal. It was fun, and delicious, but that was just the morning. The rest of the day promised to be pretty boring.

Having head back up to his room, Dave turned on the Xbox and rooted himself to his floor. What a lame Saturday, but it wasn't like anyone else was going to know how he spent it.

* * *

This was like the 6th grade zoo trip all over again. Then all the animals had appeared lethargic and about as exciting as a rock. David was almost just as boring, except for the fact he looked like any other maniac gamer, which he had found to be sort of amusing. Karofsky seemed awfully into the game he was playing, but from what Kurt could see through the binoculars Azimio had provided him with, Karofsky didn't appear to be ready to move anytime soon.

"Gimme those." Speaking of Azimio… he suddenly ripped the binoculars right out of his hands and took a look at his best friend himself. He only glanced for a second, but it must have been one disappointing second because he gave them back instantly, sighing heavily.

"Why are we doing this?" Kurt asked pointedly, wondering why he was still even going along with it. He really just wanted to leave. He was just afraid Azimio would really kill him if he tried to leave.

"You're right man, this is boring." You would have thought that meant he was going to stop all this nonsense, but instead Azimio pulled out his phone and hit a number for speed dial.

Kurt knew what he was up to. At the zoo, there were always those people that tried to get the animals to do something when they were so extremely boring. That was what Azimio was doing. He was going to get Karofsky to do something.

"Just watch him." As a direct order from someone who he was pretty scared of, Kurt picked up the binoculars and continued to watch Karofsky.

"Dammit Azmio!" Karofksy had looked down to check who was calling him, which had in turn caused his alternate self on the game to die. Cursing your best friend wasn't exactly a greeting, but he was sure he wouldn't mind. Then again… they hadn't actually talked since well… the big talk, so perhaps that hadn't been the best thing to say, because he wasn't quite sure if he was his best friend anymore.

"Yo Karofsky, my man!" Somehow every time they had an issue straining their friendship, Karofsky turned out to suddenly be Azmio's man. This was starting to have a negative connotation for him.

"Yes…?" He couldn't help but be a little scared by how enthusiastic his friend sounded. It was almost too cheerful. In fact, Azimio sounded way too cheerful.

"Man, I got your back and I thought you should be the first to know that the firefighters are stripping in front of the fire station!" Mad laughter ensued.

Silence.

Karofsky was blushing in both embarrassment and rage. Was he making fun of him now? Was that what was happening? About to hang up the phone, Karofsky only stopped at the sound of Azimio hurriedly telling him not to in a sort of worried tone.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"That was just a joke, I wasn't making fun of you, believe me. Look, could you just come and meet me at the mall? I'd like to hang out." Contemplating it, Karofsky ultimately decided on yes. The trip could either go horribly wrong or right, he just didn't know where he stood with his friend anymore.

"Ok… see you there." He said cautiously before hanging up the phone.

* * *

It was actually Kurt who had to hit Azimio in the arm to get him to stop laughing.

"That wasn't funny; he is going to hang up on you." He whispered fiercely, still staring at Dave through the binoculars. He had caught the blush and the rage. It was interesting to see the person on the other end of the phone conversation, but it also made Kurt feel like such a creep. Still he couldn't stop staring… it had been an interesting expression. Kurt hadn't even realized the phone conversation had ended when it did. His gaze was fixated on Karofsky as he carelessly pulled his shirt over his head to change.

"Having fun?" Azimio's voice caused him to jump up, dropping the binoculars.

"Oh um… I was still watching like you told me."

"Well you could stop now; we are going to the mall."

"What? I don't want to go to the mall with you!"

"I don't want to go with you either; we're not."

"If we are not going to mall _together_, how are we going to be there _together_?" The sentence was a contradiction all by itself. Azimio just smirked.

"You'll see."

* * *

When Azmio said they weren't going to be together, Kurt had honestly begun to imagine things that he might do to not be seen with him.

Like stuff him in a suitcase for instance and lug him around the mall, having him listen in on the conversation. At the time, he had concluded that to be the worse case scenario. Now he believed he was wrong. Even that would be better then what he was doing now.

After parking and turning off the car, Azimio had turned to look at his captive, telling him clearly what he wanted him to do. Kurt was sure that he was going to say 'this sounded less crazy in my mind' after he was done speaking, but sadly it wasn't so. Instead, his instructions stood solitary.

"So you got it? You are going to follow behind us, and if he sees you, then your face will be seeing my fist and treated with a slushie, right?"

"Yes, yes I got it." Kurt suppressed a sigh. Even if the threat seemed off somehow. It felt like Azimio wouldn't go through with it in a way that signified he actually did care about Kurt's face, or at least cared about causing physical harm in such away. Still, he wasn't willing to chance it. It would setback his whole face routine.

There was a part of him that actually wanted to do it however; a part that wanted to go through with it to satiate his own curiosity. Not the whole follow behind part. The part where he got to see how Karofsky acted around someone that wasn't Kurt, and not in a school environment, in a place where the two bullies were a little less occupied trying to make high school even worse for the other students. Of course, wasn't doing things simply out of curiosity stupid and dangerous?

The concept behind the answer to that question was simple.

It was like when a child little and decided to touch the stove due to curiosity, even with the warnings that it was hot; the child just really had to do it, because it needed to know for itself. This was kind of like that. Kurt just needed to know it, and it wasn't like every time a person touched the stove they were burned. Sometimes it was off and harmless, the flame tamed.

Curiosity could go either way really. It all depended on how you played out, and what you were curious about.

So you could say even though he practically had no choice in the matter, Kurt had at least thought it out in his mind, and could say he had technically agreed to do with it. Still, his current position was so… stalkerish. Other people thought so too as they stared at him as he tried to blend in with the small plant he was hiding behind. There was no way in hell that Karofsky wouldn't be able to notice him by the end of this. Kurt quickly moved forward as the two of them were finally walking away from the mall entrance, and he kept a safe distance behind. Azimio directed his friend to the food court, where Kurt was able to slip in and hide behind a barrier, a good place to listen. As long as Karofsky didn't look over it and no one pointed him out, it would be ok.

" Azimio, why did you bring me here?"

"What kinda question is that man? I am your friend."

"Well after that last conversation I didn't think so. "

"Look, I am here now right? I am not out to get you, or make a big production of it… I just want you to know I am still here for you, alright man?"

Kurt was listening rather intensely, surprised Azimo had allowed him, or rather planned for him to listen to such a conversation that seemed like it should be private. Kurt was just surprised in general; Azimio was actually a good friend.

"Come on Azimio, the mall? Is this the place to really talk about everything?"

"No one is paying attention to us, it is loud, and they are all having their own conversations."

'_Except for me. The great stalker.' _Kurt couldn't help but think for a second, but immediately focused in on the conversation once more.

Karofsky had stayed silent for a second before ultimately nodding, because as much as he was scared of how public the place was, he also had considered the fact that Azimio made a good point. Besides, even though he wouldn't admit it, he really wanted to have this talk with his best friend. To know that… he wouldn't judge him, and to hear that he was there for him, it was nice to know.

"So, about Hummel?" Azimio asked suddenly, causing Kurt's heart to jolt. He was really going to talk about him while he knew he was listening in? That just wasn't cool.

"What about him?" Karofsky asked pervasively, defensive.

"How do you feel about him?" Azimio seemed rather pushy; Kurt didn't think Karofsky was going to answer it, but at the same time, his eyes had widened, and he was listening so intently that it was almost as though there were no other sounds around him. Suddenly he didn't want to know, he needed to know what Karofsky was going to say here. Sure, he had figured he had probably liked him because of everything… but at the same time, the truest things you said were to your best friend.

"Azimo, you kno-"

"Kurt?" A familiar voice was suddenly speaking to him, and if it were possible, his eyes got even wider.

"Blaine?" Kurt hopped up, revealing that he was behind a barrier.

"Hummel?" Kurt heard Karofsky's confused voice behind him.

"SHIT." So this only left Azimio, who had the exact right word for the situation.

* * *

**So, who thought that Kurt had received the text from Karofsky? :)**


	10. Awkward Times Call for Awkward Measures

As far awkward moments went, this was definitely in his top three. Considering Kurt's life _was_ an awkward moment, this was pretty bad.

Not only was Karofsky slowly coming to the conclusion to that he was being stalked, his very own boyfriend was coming to that same conclusion.

Any notion that Kurt had that Azimio might have been his friend for maybe even a second was thrown out the window when he stood up and looked at him crazy, just like everyone else. He was going to pretend not to know a single thing even though it had completely been Azimio's fault that this was happening. The only good thing he could say for him right now was that he was trying to drag Karofsky away, grabbing onto his arm and pulling on it.

"Let go of me!" Karofsky wrenched his arm free from his friend's grasp and walked closer to Kurt, staring at him with a confused expression, ignoring the fact that the entire food court was looking at them too.

"Kurt. Why were you there?"

The words, they just weren't forming. He couldn't very well tell him the truth, but wasn't it wrong to lie? Kurt took a sideways glance to Azimio, before focusing back on Karofsky. He couldn't help but notice Blaine inching a little closer to him too.

Under the pressure of being asked why he was hiding behind a barrier, there was only one thing he could come up with.

"I was tying my shoe!" He blurted out, which seemed to satisfy everyone, and they all went back to what they were eating. Karofsky seemed to accept it, and Azimio almost looked proud of that excuse. This excuse would explain why they wouldn't have been able to see him behind the barrier. Kurt needed to tie his shoes before he tripped. Simple as that.

"Kurt," Blaine said, finally coming into his range of view." You're wearing boots. There are no shoelaces."

"Hey man are you ok?"

"I don't know I guess so"

"Oh good! Cause you are kind of creeping out the customers." Kurt looked up at the man speaking to him, and realized what he was saying was probably true. He was sitting inside a circular rack of clothes, hiding in it. Still, he wasn't that eager to move from it, and there was also the fact he wasn't ok.

After Blaine had so curtly told him he was wearing boots and blew up his whole excuse, Kurt ran away in those boots. He made it all the way to the last place he figured Blaine would try to look for him: The Gap. They had both vowed to never shop there again.

With as much dignity as he could, Kurt crawled out from there, and instead moved over to sit on the edge of a mannequin display.

"I'm sorry it's just I am hiding from somebody." Or rather, everyone in the food court, but mainly Blaine, Karofsky, and Azimio.

To Kurt's dismay, the guy actually sat next to him. Eyeing the man's name tag warily, Kurt couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't doing his job.

"Guy trouble huh?" The man whose nametag read 'Justin' asked, causing Kurt to look at him questioningly.

"Um sorry, but you are gay right?" The guy asked this time, and though the answer was yes, Kurt still couldn't help but stare at him like he was getting a little too personal here. They weren't even employee and customer. They were employee and weird guy that happened to be hanging out in the store. No. Hiding in the store.

"Yeah… that's it." He couldn't believe he was in a conversation with a guy that worked at The Gap. He hated everyone at The Gap just because they worked there.

"Yeah me too." Did he just say him too? He was having guy trouble?

"Hope your boss doesn't know that." Kurt muttered, remembering Jeremiah. He wasn't someone he could easily forget in all honesty. At the time Kurt was glad he got fired, but the more he thought about it, the harsher it seemed. In a way, it almost seemed like he had been fired for being gay.

"Actually he does… he's cool with it. He told me as long as no one starts singing to me about it."

"Really? That's weird… why would he say something silly like that?" Kurt said a little nervously. Was that becoming a story here?

"Well he told me it was because some guy and his background singers showed up and started singing to the last senior manager that worked here…"

"That actually sounds kind of cool, like free entertainment? I mean I wish I had been there to see it." Honestly, Kurt didn't want to admit to being there, or being one of the 'background singers' but he did feel like he had to defend the Warblers. So what if Kurt didn't like the reason they had gone into The Gap to sing that day? They sounded damn good, and the shoppers had looked impressed.

"You were actually."

"How wou-"

"Cause I was there too. You don't just show up to work at The Gap one day and become the new Senior Manager." He said with a wink, one infuriating wink. Angered, Kurt stood up and started to walk away; he sensed there was something horribly wrong with this conversation.

"Tell Blaine I said hi." The last words Kurt heard before he completely left the store he hated.

Trying to leave the mall was a whole different story. Azimio had kidnapped him and drove him here… what were the chances he would kidnap him and take him back to his car?

When Kurt ran away, everyone had watched him run. The only person brave enough to run after him was Blaine. Karofsky didn't move. He was still in shock, and really, what gave him any reason to chase after him? Besides, running through the mall just made you look like a maniac.

"Come on man, let's get out of here." Azimio was again trying to guide him out of the food court, an uncomfortable look on his face as he tried to escape the concealed stares. People had started to look at them again, and that was perhaps the only reason he had agreed to just leave.

"We are going to talk about this later." Karofsky said gruffly. He was confused, and despite the fact Azimo was playing dumb, Karofsky knew his friend was behind all of this somehow, except perhaps pretty boy showing up. That 'shit' was pretty genuine.

It turned out that Azimio took talking later so literal, that he didn't talk again. Well, that was until they got distracted by a Gamestop, where he still ended up talking very little anyway. However, neither of them could resist checking out games to help get their minds off of things.

That was why it had taken so long for them to leave the mall, where Karofsky instantly noticed Kurt sitting out on a bench. It looked like pretty boy had run off and got lost somewhere, because apparently he hadn't found Kurt.

Content on just leaving all of this behind him, Karofsky was about to just walk off. It was then that Azimio decided it would be cool to talk.

"Hey man, I will explain this all to you later, I swear… but for now can you just drive him to Lima Bean? Thanks man." Before Karofsky could protest, Azimio walked away. Sure he probably could have stopped him, but he had done that so fast, Karofsky's mind barely had time to comprehend what had just happened.

There was still time. He wasn't obligated to do this or anything. Karofsky could honestly leave, it wasn't like he was looking at him or anything. If he snuck away now, there was a chance that Kurt would never know he was there in the first place. All Karofsky had to do was walk away now and… he couldn't do it.

"Hey Hummel. Do you need a ride?" Kurt turned to look at him, and to Karofsky's surprise, nodded slowly.

Normally, Kurt probably would have refused the offer, but he couldn't deny the fact that he had no way to get home and that he trusted Karofsky a little bit more than Blaine right now.

The thing was, what Justin had said was getting to him more than he wanted it to, but Kurt just couldn't bear the fact that the reason Blaine was there in the first place was Justin. Kurt, in his head, had planned out every outcome stalking Karofsky in the mall could have, and seeing Blaine hadn't been one of them.

Kurt stole a glance at Karofsky, who seemed to be trying to look at anything in the world beside Kurt. Then again, perhaps he was just a good driver that kept his eyes on the road.

"Hummel-"

"It was Azimio's fault!" Kurt yelled out, there was no way he was going to let him be the innocent one here; it was literally all his fault.

"I was just going to tell you to close the window, the air conditioner is on." Embarrassed, Kurt closed the window obediently. The wind gone, it was now dead silent in the car, but Kurt had still noticed the small hint of a smile on Karofsky's face. Kurt supposed he deserved to be laughed at it.

The awkward silence was closing in on them, and neither of them seemed to want to reach for the radio. It just wasn't Kurt's car, so there was no way he was going to touch it, and well he wasn't sure why Karofsky wasn't touching the radio.

"It's broken." Karofsky said after a while, causing Kurt to stare at him in confusion.

"The radio. It broke a week ago." Oh. Yeah that made sense… actually; it should have been the first thing that came to his mind. Instead, Kurt had thought he meant the trust between Karofsky and Azimio, but he was just thinking way too much into things. It turned out not everything had a deeper meaning.

"OK Hummel we're at the Lima Bean." Karofsky announced, ending the most silent car ride Kurt ever had to endure.

"Thank you." Hopping out of the car with his natural dignity, Kurt Hummel strode his way back to his car, where he had left it. Relief flooded through him as he got back into his own car, where he belonged.

Well, what could anyone have expected from that? Karofsky watched as Kurt made it safely to his car before reaching for his phone, and starting a new text to Azimio.

'_y did u-'_

His text was interrupted by a prompt knocking on his window. He turned to see Kurt's face in his window, motioning for him to roll it down.

Obliging his request, Karofsky pressed the button, removing the barrier between them.

"Your radio."

"My radio?"

"Yeah, your radio. I can… probably fix it if you want."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, my dad is a mechanic and I uh… learned some things. So next Saturday ok?"

"Sure."

"Alright." No goodbyes said, Kurt Hummel walked away from his car once again, except this time really drove off.

Karofsky on the other hand turned back his text.

'_I h8 u. Can u come over tmrw?'_

The reply came swiftly.

'h8 u 2 man, C ya tmrw!'


	11. Chapter 11: It Starts With a Seed

**I don't have any excuses for this long update. I was just being lazy. :)**

**I have to say I really liked this chapter though, and it is strange for me to like my own writing.**

* * *

A monkey could crash land an alien space ship into his house, and David Karofsky still wouldn't turn his eyes from the sight in front of him.

Coming out from behind his truck, Kurt Hummel was actually walking up his driveway in overalls.

His mom, Jennifer, had warned him the other male would be coming around now since Kurt had called her. Thus the reason David was actually sitting _outside_ on his porch, but no amount of warning could have prepared him for this. Such a blatant lack of fashion that even he could tell wasn't right.

As he got closer, Dave was able to see the discomfort on Kurt's face as he traveled up the driveway, the oversized and unfashionable overalls weighing in on his conscious. The regret had to definitely be setting in for why he had decided to wear them.

"Hey Karofsky… where's your mom?" Kurt seemed to be looking around everywhere except Karofsky's actual face, even the bushes.

"Well I could tell you she isn't in the bushes, but if you really want to go check them I don't mind…. Or she might be in your overalls, I think someone could hide in those successfully." Kurt's head snapped to him at that point, glaring at him for even mentioning his clothes.

"Where is she?" He asked again, a little more bitterly because of the comment.

" Calm down, she is helping her friend Evette with some makeup hosting thing or something… it was kind of last minute, but I think she'll be gone for at least a couple hours. Why?"

Kurt, without a good excuse to be asking where Karofsky's mom was, was quick to find a reason to once again change the subject. It was obvious that he was trying to avoid the topic of his fashion emergency.

"Oh nothing…. Just, let me get to work on the radio." Trotting away from him, Kurt went over to Karofsky's car and opened the door. He crawled into the seat, and stared at the radio.

"Think it's that easy to get away from me?"

"I wasn't trying to get away from you… I just want to get to work on this."

"I think you need something." Karofsky said, holding up his keys, amused.

Kurt, looking anything but, mumbled something like 'yeah ass, I think I do need those,' before lunging for them. Karofsky stepped back a bit, causing Kurt to fly forward and almost out of the car. Before he managed to however, Karofsky stepped back closer to him, and caught him with his hand. Holding him up with that one arm, Karofsky kept him there in place while he held this key's away from Kurt with his other.

"I just want to know why you are wearing those overalls. That's it. Then I will let you have them." Pushing him slowly back, Karfosky put Kurt safely back on the car seat, waiting for an answer.

What he didn't expect was for the boy to burst out into tears.

Turning his head away, Kurt cried, and not silently. He was sobbing.

Not quite sure what to do, Karofsky said the first thing he could think of.

"Come on, they don't look that bad." It was obviously the wrong thing to say because Kurt glared at him, and started to attempt to push him away before relenting and turning back away from him once more.

Confused, Karofsky held out the keys to him and jingled them to let him know their presence.

Kurt didn't take this as badly, but he still didn't stop crying. He shook his head to the keys.

"I-I'm sorry K-Karofsky, I-I c-can't…" Kurt could barely speak as he managed to get out the sentence in between sobs.

Unable to understand what was going on, Karofsky stayed silent, but did reach out his hand to touch Kurt's shoulder lightly. Looking deeply concerned, he stared at him. He then closed the door, and walked around to the driver's side, getting in there himself.

"Whatever the problem is…you could tell me. Do you want to go inside the house?"

Shaking his head to the latter question, Kurt tried his best to stop crying.

"N-No, I-I'll be fine… just…" Still sniffling, Kurt wiped away some of the tears. He stayed like that for another couple of minutes before calming down enough to form more coherent sentences. He wiped at the tears, before turning at Karofsky.

"I'm so sorry for this... Dave. I'll tell you, you deserve to know after I freaked out on you like that." Kurt finally said, looking at him for a second before turning away to glance out the window.

Karofsky was a little shocked to hear his first name come out of Kurt's mouth. It caused a new dilemma in his mind. Was he allowed to call him Kurt? Sure, they weren't Japanese, but for some reason what they called each other had become something more personal.

"I am wearing these overalls… because my dad dressed me today. It sounds crazy that I would ever let him do that, I know." Kurt was now staring down at his hands, one over the other. They were resting on his lap. Tense and shaking a bit, Kurt continued his explanation.

"In fact, these are his. That's why they're a bit oversized. Normally I wouldn't dare let him dress me, but… there is one special day a year when I allow it and well, when I told him I was going to go fix something on your car, he dressed me in this. I suppose I forgot to mention it was just your radio… but for some reason he looked quite proud of this outfit, and I couldn't just tell him to try again. He got to dress me in whatever he wanted.

"Again, why would I let my dad dress me? It's crazy! He has the fashion sense of a cow. My mom was always the fashionable one… she dressed me and took care of everything and such. When she died…my dad took up the duty. When we both realized he couldn't quite handle it, I began dressing myself. I already had started to, I mean I showed great promise in fashion, but we agreed there would be that one day where he could dress me.

"Today, David… it's my mom's birthday, and I f-forgot-" The violent sobs started again, as Kurt resorted to repeating that he'd 'forgot.' Piecing it together, David instinctively reached forward and pulled the other boy in for a hug, to which the other boy didn't resist.

After everything Kurt had just told him, he felt the need to say something, but nothing came to his mind. Instead, he just lightly patted Kurt on the back.

They stayed like that for what Karosky supposed was fifteen minutes before Kurt pulled away and smiled weakly.

"Thankyou for that. I needed a hug…" Karofsky couldn't help but smile back at this. No matter how sad he truly looked, it was nice to see his smile.

"Um the radio, I still need to fix it… my mom taught me to honor my commitments, no matter what the occasion."

The words were simple… but they struck Karofsky in the heart hard. It was hard to describe the feeling resonating inside him, but he could hardly defend his next actions to be his own. Pulling Kurt towards him, he kissed him softly.

Rejection was always his first expectancy that was why, though hesitant at first, it had surprised him so much that Kurt kissed him back. When they broke apart, Karofsky realized he too was crying.

"Look…forget the radio Kurt. It's silly… your mom is more important. You shouldn't be here."

"No I promised you I would. Give me the keys."

"No Kurt! This isn't right! I don't care about it that much. Even if you have to celebrate your mom's birthday with me, you're going to. What do you usually do?"

A little surprised, Kurt looked at him and nodded. He wasn't going to leave Karofsky because he'd promised he'd be here.

"We visit her grave." Kurt stated, glancing down at his hands again. He looked up surprised however when he heard the ignition start. He looked over to Karofsky, who stared at him determined.

"Ok, where is it?"

* * *

Being left to deal with a total sobbing mess wasn't as bad as Karofsky initially thought.

Again, Kurt was crying his heart out, but it was all alright because Karofsky was there to support him and even shed some of his own accompanying tears, none that were false.

They spent a half hour or so there, but it didn't really matter. It wasn't as though he were timing it. Karofsky wouldn't dare do that. However long Kurt wanted to be there, that was how long they were going to stay.

The one thing that had surprised him though was that he hadn't run into Burt, Carole, or Finn. Wouldn't they want to pay respects too?

This question was answered later when Kurt told him the rest of them had already gone.

Wiping away the last of his tears for the time being, Kurt finally turned to Dave and told him he was ready to go.

"Alright, anything else you do?"

"You don't really have to do this…it's ok."

"No I want to." Kurt sighed as they got back into the car, but he decided to tell him anyway.

"We pick somewhere she liked to go and we would hang out there for a while… this year I was thinking of the lake."

"Kurt… do you want me to take you home? You should be doing this with your dad." In all seriousness, he didn't feel like this was right. He felt as though he was taking away something precious, something sacred.

"No. It's fine. We decided to celebrate in our own separate way this year anyway… since we expected I'd be at Dalton during this time."

"Oh yeah right." David said, stiffening at the mention of that school. That was where the douche resided.

The sound of the ignition was once again heard as Dave turned on the car and began to drive.

"We're going to the lake."

"Yeah I know."

* * *

It was hard to watch something happen without being able to do anything about it. That was the feeling that Dave had as he watched Kurt trip on his overalls and almost roll into the lake.

Having decided to walk a slight bit in front of him, Karofsky hadn't been able to stop it, and could only chase after him as he rolled. He did however manage to stop him in time, halting his decent downwards.

"I don't think it is safe for you to be wearing those overalls."

"Yeah well I am not taking them off. Stop trying to get my pants off of me Karofsky."

Standing there in a second of silence, it wasn't long before the two of them soon burst into a spontaneous laughter.

Karofsky decided to just sit down on the grass beside Kurt, who still hadn't stood up. Besides, Kurt had rolled down far enough for a great view of the lake.

"I am glad you did this, even if I told you not to." Kurt started suddenly, staring out at the lake.

Karofsky didn't even mind that he wasn't looking at him. He had been staring out into space himself, fretting in his head over the fact that Kurt had once again called him 'Karofsky.' He was sure he was just over thinking the matter.

"Do I ever listen to you?" Karofsky joked, causing Kurt to turn to him with a smile.

"Just about as much as I listen to you." Kurt chided, but he was still smiling one amazing smile.

Then, just like that, they were kissing again.

Karofsky wasn't sure how it happened, and he wouldn't be able to explain it, but he was pretty sure Kurt had tackled him.

That would be the only explanation for why he was suddenly on his back, and the other boy was on top of him.

"I… I broke up with Blaine." Kurt said hesitantly, after pulling away from Dave's lips, though he kept his position on top of him.

"Good." Dave said and leaned up to kiss him again; Kurt kissed back, surprised a little at first, but got more into it. He was sure that wasn't the response he was expecting but it had been the best damn thing Karofsky had ever heard and this was the best damn lake trip he ever had.

* * *

"I'm sorry Karofsky, I don't think I will be able to fix your radio today." It was already getting dark out. After hanging out at the lake for a long time, they had gone to eat dinner together, the next thing Kurt said they did on his mom's birthday. Not to mention they'd been starving.

"It's fine, it isn't that important."

"David Karofsky, I am appalled that you would say that. That thing is the most important item in your car, where would we be without music?"

"Yeah, you're right. We would all be rhythmless dumbasses. So is there anything else you do on this day?"

"Um…yeah actually." As he spoke, Kurt reached into his pocket and pulled out a seed.

"My mom's favorite flower was a sunflower. So every year me and my dad each take a seed and plant it in our favorite spot of the year. To us… it is as if we are sharing our favorite memories of the year with her. If that makes any sense…"

"It does… so where do you want to plant it?" Karofsky asked curiously, staring down at the tiny seed. He was staring at it with certain intensity, as if he was wishing the world of it. There was so much pressure on the place he was going to plant it.

"Well I dunno… but I have an idea. Hey, can I see your back yard?"

Surprised at the question, Karofsky numbly nodded. Hopping out of the car, he walked around and opened the passenger for Kurt. He led him around his house to his back yard, where he curiously awaited to be satisfied.

"So this is my back yard… pretty crappy, right?"

"Oh, I don't know about that… it seems like a pretty good place to plant a sunflower."

"What? You want to plant it-"

"David Karofsky, if you agree to be my boyfriend, I will agree to plant the flower here."

"Deal." Grinning like a wild man, Karofsky agreed, and again he found himself kissing Kurt Hummel which wasn't as weird as it was awesome now.

Together they had put the little seed and the ground. A little seed that would soon grow big and blossom, just the same as the relationship it had been planted for.


	12. Chapter 12: It Could Never Be Secret

**A.N. I checked the date on this and I wrote it nearly four months ago. I hadn't like it so much, but looking at it again, it seems better. Still, I really want to end this story soon I think (the day I finish a story, it will be a miracle right?) I believe that back then I intended for this to be the last chapter, but now I ended up cutting it off. That means there are only about one or two chapters left I think? That is if anyone care. ;) Sorry, I am the worst author ever. Anyways, here it is. **

* * *

Everyday the sun descended downwards towards the West, transforming the day into the night. Only on special occasions was the spectacular sight not taken for granted. Even now, Kurt and Dave paid no attention to it as they kissed beside the seed they had just planted, which was nestled firmly into the dirt.

The sun performed its final trick of the day, illuminating the two of them in brilliant shades of orange and pink, before the light disappeared altogether. The last thing they saw in the natural light was each other, identical smiles on their faces. Neither of them could put into words how they'd gotten to this point, so quickly too, but they both knew it didn't matter right now. Perhaps it was best not to put it into words- because sometimes words did this funny little thing where they ruined everything.

Paul Karofsky didn't usually come home early from work. In fact, some would say that he was a work-a-holic. Ok, not some. Everyone. It was rare for Jennifer Karofksy to answer the phone and claim that her husband was home in the daytime. He felt bad about it because he knew he was neglecting his family, but in other ways, he was helping them. He was bringing in the money, and that was the most important thing. He was sustaining his family's needs.

The only reason this day stood apart from the others was that he was actually _told _to go home, but not in a rude way. His boss insisted.

"_Paul, you've been working really hard… for, well, ever! I think. Why don't you take a break? Leave work early tonight?" The question had caught him off guard. His boss never suggested anyone have time off._

"_No Ted, I couldn't possibly leave now wi-"_

"_That's nonsense! Look, Paul, you are the hardest worker here and we all agreed you need a vacation, right Angelo?" Ted grabbed a hold of the nearest employee to him, whose name was actually Aaron, and asked his opinion. Of course no one said no to the boss. "See! Now go ahead and go home, I am sure you're family will be pleasantly surprised." _

_Paul smiled. "I am sure they will be." He then left work, and headed back to his house._

Upon arriving at his house, he found it dark. Surprised, he glanced to check what cars were there. David's was there, but Jennifer's was still missing. He hadn't bothered to pay attention to her plans for the day, because they normally didn't concern him, but today he found he regretted that.

"David?" he called out into the house as the darkness was beginning to take over. Why his son would be sitting in the dark puzzled him, but he wasn't going to wonder about it. He continued to call out his name, only stopping to turn on the entryway light as he traveled through the house.

The bright light from the last remnants of the sun had suddenly caught his eye as it angled straight into the Karofsky household, drawing his attention towards the sliding glass door, which led to the backyard. Making its final assault, the sun blinded his eyes momentarily, as he stumbled forward a bit. He opened his eyes only to see the worst sight possible. At least to him.

His son, David Karofsky, was kissing that Hummel kid. He thought he was gone, shipped off to some boarding school. Stony faced, Paul Karofsky banged his fist against the door to catch their attention and then yelled out to his son.

"David!"

It was as if his name was ringing throughout the world. The tone of disappointment, disgust, anger. Emotions you'd never want directed towards you from your dad.

David turned his head up hesitantly, his face now terrified.

Kurt turned his head away, baffled, and not sure how to deal with this.

Jennifer Karofsky wandered into her home, an oblivious smile on her face.

Back at his house, in his room, Azimio smiled at the knowledge that he had done something right for once.

Blaine sat detestably in his room, thinking things over.

Mr. Anderson, in the same house as his son, congratulated himself silently.

David was mortified; his father never came home this early, and the occasions that he did, there was nothing going on his life this monumental. Automatically, he stepped about a foot back from Kurt, and the look that he received made him feel like he was being hit over the chest with a sledgehammer. For a split second, Kurt stared at the freshly upturned dirt, before turning on his heels and running.

"Kurt! Wait I-"

"David!" His dad's angry voice had cut him off abruptly. Paul had finally gotten his dexterity to work again, enough to open the door and storm out to his son. "What were you doing? Why was _he_ here?" The venom in his voice was apparent, and it made David step back in alarm. He wanted nothing more than to chase after Kurt, but in the dark, he couldn't tell where he was going and he couldn't just run away from his father.

"Dad," Dave started, but the words lodged in his throat. He wanted to stand up for himself, for Kurt, but he couldn't do it. His dad had clearly seen what had happened. Obviously he was just waiting for his son to say it out loud, to see if he had the courage to admit to something his father thought to be so wrong. It would be so invigorating to just say it. That he had been kissing Kurt Hummel. Except he couldn't.

The smugness he could see in his father's eyes, mixed in with the disapproval, made him feel as though he were going to die inside. His father was grasping at any tendrils of pride he thought he could still feel for what was left of _his_ son.

It was Dave's hesitation to say that he was gay that Paul clutched onto. He could bring his son to his senses. It wouldn't be the first time his father had felt he had to 'guide him' in the right direction.

"What's going on here?" They both turned to see Jennifer Karofsky standing in the doorway, holding two grocery bags in her hands with a confused expression on her face. Her eyes had flicked momentarily towards Dave, before fixating her gaze upon her husband.

Something had caused her to come straight to the back yard. That was clear. Otherwise she would have put the bags down before. They looked heavy.

"Paul?" Her eyes were boring into him, the beginnings of a scowl evident upon her face. "Why are you home early?"

The two Karofsky men had been staring at her tersely, not wanting to look at each other. Paul Karofsky stepped a bit forward, trying to suppress his anger. "My boss said I could leave early. Look, Jennifer," there was a weird strain his voice, "that doesn't matter."

Dave wasn't sure how to take the situation. His father didn't know he was outnumbered two against one, because if Dave knew one thing, it was that his mom was going to take his side. It had been hard for him to believe that, but his mom had been more on his side than anyone, and if it hadn't been for her he wasn't sure he would have ever been able to reciprocate his feeling for Kurt in any constructive way.

He hated the way he'd been before, but today had been amazing, and he didn't want the happiness to go away. If he were being honest with himself, it felt good. The rest of the world, including his father, just couldn't see that.

There was no doubt in his mind that his mom supported his sexuality. Her methods, of course, had not been conventional. Shoving Kurt into his room surely hadn't been the right way to do things, but it did force them to tackle their problem head on. Dave would have smiled at the memory, if it weren't for his current situation.

Dave gulped, suddenly remembering the way Kurt had ran off, a hurt look in his eyes. Had their relationship ended before it begun?

Unconsciously, Dave stared at the dirt where they had just planted the seed, despite his inability to see it in the dark.

It wasn't until his mom spoke again that Dave had noticed the prolonged silence. None of them had said a single thing in the time span of a couple of minutes. He had expected his dad to start off in a degrading tangent to his wife about how his- no her- son was gay. Come up with a plan of action, _insult Kurt_. None of it had occurred. Instead, Jennifer spoke up first. "I saw Kurt leave."

Dave paled a little bit, waiting for his father's reaction.

"My son is not gay." It was the most irrational comment his father had ever made. Dave knew his dad just wanted to believe those words, and he was going to find a way for Dave to believe it too.

However, those words only hung in the air for about five seconds before Jennifer spoke up again.

"Yes he is."

* * *

It was best not to drive upset, but often times it was inevitable. Kurt needed to get home, and the only way that was happening was if he took himself.

Slipping back into his house, Kurt tried to sneak past everyone. He wasn't even sure they were home, but he didn't want to take the risk. The plan had gone terribly wrong however when he had bumped into Finn. The taller male had been smiling down at his phone, while Kurt had been glancing about cautiously.

"Ah, dude, sorry I- are you ok?" Finn was suddenly frowning. He stuffed his phone into his pocket to let him know he was paying attention.

When they had first become brothers, Kurt hadn't thought that Finn would ever be so… brotherly. Their interests were just too different. However, his step brother had risen to challenge and accepted his duties whole heartedly. He did care about Kurt, and honestly worried about him, and Kurt appreciated that but right now it was just a bother. He just wanted to be left alone. "Nothing," Kurt lied easily, pushing past him.

Finn turned around and stared at him in that dejected way he had perfected. "You're obviously not fine. You could tell me, you know?"

"I don't want to talk about," Kurt said. He felt bad that he was treating Finn this way, but he just needed to let it be. Making his way to his room, he closed his door and locked it.

Kurt pictured what was probably happening outside his door. Finn had followed him, and now had his hand hovering lightly above the door to knock, but decided against it. A sad look on his face, he would now probably be walking back to his room, slowly pulling his phone back out of his pocket and going about his business.

It was stupid, but he had to know that Finn had moved on (even if he didn't really know), before he completely lost himself. He sat on his bed, and sobbed.

Normally, Kurt didn't like to mull over his life, because often it sucked. Right now, he didn't know what to make of it. Everything was muddled.

Today, things had been perfect with David. Kurt couldn't even bring himself to think of him as _Karofsky_, because that had such a spiteful ring to it. Still, he couldn't forget what it was Dave had done, and how frightened he had been for his life. He had caused him both physical and psychological pain.

The Dave he knew now was a different person, but it still seemed crazy to fall for him. He knew it was crazy because today had been the only time they had done anything even remotely nice, seeing as their last meeting had been a stalker session. They were moving too fast, and Kurt was confused. He had planted his mom's seed in Dave's backyard, and he was starting to think he should have thought through it more but it had been a kind of spur of the moment thing.

The way Dave had stepped back away from him almost reproachfully is what had sent Kurt's mentality spiraling down, causing him to question what he thought he was doing. Dave wasn't out and proud like he was, and didn't have a supportive father. It made Kurt realize how tough the jump would be. They couldn't be public. Even Kurt's own friends would protest.

All of them despised Dave for how he had treated Kurt. It was crazy how much they cared for him, but they wouldn't understand. No one would ever understand it and he wasn't sure Dave was ready to screw society over and come out proudly as his boyfriend. That was what he saw in that look, and in that moment, it was when Kurt realized how stupid they had both been.

Sometimes it was weird how fast life happened. Kurt sighed, and fell backwards. Today he had learned more about Dave than ever before. How kind, caring, and devoted he could really be. Still, it was the only part of the true Dave he really knew, and Kurt knew nothing more. He didn't think he could date David Karofksy because he didn't know David Karofsky and that was what they needed to work on.

* * *

Blaine was sitting on his bed in a similar fashion. He had been a douche, he knew that. There was no other word to describe it. They had agreed not to go to the GAP again, yet he had done so, and had stupidly fallen for another guy. He was easily swayable, but he knew he had screwed up big time because Kurt had been special. Blaine sighed, holding his head in his hands.

"Blaine." It was his father. He looked up at him, resentfully.

"Yes, dad?"

"I got something you should see." Whenever his dad wanted to _show_ him something, he cringed because he knew it wasn't going to end well for him. His dad hated that his son was gay, but Blaine was defiant enough to keep up his pride. Still, his father constantly beat down on him. The only reason Blaine was home was because he had been visiting with his mom, and hadn't yet gone back to Dalton. Blaine watched as his dad pulled three photographs out of his pocket. He treaded closer to him and set them down on the bed.

Blaine gasped, anger blaring up inside of him. They were photos of Kurt and Karofsky by the lake. He stared intently at the one where they were kissing. So that was what was going on? He stared up at his dad. "Why are you showing this to me?"

"He's a whore, and he is obviously guiding Paul's kid in the wrong direction- which he should be discovering by now." Blaine glared at him.

"What did you do?"

"Oh, a couple of things." With that, he walked out of the room.

Blaine growled in frustration. He never liked Karofsky because he had met him on bad terms, but he knew he had been secretly gay. Kurt had told him that, because he had been confiding in him. He didn't tell anyone because he didn't want to out Karofsky, and quite frankly, Blaine wouldn't have wanted that for him either.

His dad felt the need to vent against the world just because Blaine was gay however, and whenever he spotted someone showing some… gay tendencies, he made sure their life was hell. To remind them why it was wrong to be gay. This was the man he had for a father, and it scarred him everyday.

Gritting his teeth together, Blaine reached for his phone and texted Kurt.

'_Kurt'_ After about ten minutes, Blaine accepted the fact that he wouldn't reply simply to his name. Why should he? Blaine sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

'_I need you to listen to me. I am really sorry for what I did but this isn't about me. It's my dad, he just showed me pics of you and karofsky. Just please, hear me out about this. I don't know what's going on between you two and I guess it shouldn't concern me anyways I am trying to help him. I don't think anyone should ever be outed, but my dad doesn't think so and those pictures and oh god, I have no idea what he did with them, but I thought you should know.'_

Blaine set down his phone and waited. He didn't receive a text, but a phone call.

"…Blaine… thanks for telling me."

"Yeah, no problem."

* * *

In the end, his parents ended up arguing. Honestly, it was really weird to see, because they never really did fight. That might have been due to the fact that Paul was never even home, and they had all chosen to ignore that, but he still couldn't help feel like he was pulling his own family apart. Dave didn't like to pity himself, so he didn't. He bashed himself, mentally telling himself that all of this hadn't been a good idea.

He hated himself more than anything right now, but it felt worse being hated by his dad. Dave and his dad weren't so close to each other anymore, but he was still his dad. He just wanted him to be there for him.

Paul Karofsky had a thick skull though, and it would take a lot to convince him to accept his son because society had got to him hard. There was no way he would easily accept something or someone against the norm, even if it was his son.

His son was now a freak.

* * *

Kurt hadn't gone to see Dave the next day, nor had he talked to him. Instead, he had formulated a plan with Azimio. After Kurt had told him what had happened over texts, they had come to an agreement.

It was decided that Kurt wouldn't be going back to Dalton that Monday, but instead would be on hand at Mckinley. He wasn't the most inconspicuous person however, so he would be kept in Azimio's car. It honestly wasn't the best plan, but Kurt just needed to be close by.

He held a walky talky, and Azimio held the other one. Since he was a jock, no one was apt to question what he was doing. It was weird, the popular kids could be the strangest, and no one would bat an eye, but someone considered uncool could be doing the simplest thing such as eating and be made fun of for it.

Azimio was scoping out the school. He had come early, but there were still a few people straggling around. He wasn't prone to acting like he was a fake spy, but that was what the situation felt like.

"Kurt, what am I looking for?"

"I don't know!"

He was just looking out for anything that seemed off. It was still early, but people were beginning to fill up the halls.

Azimio was going to give the all clear notice to Kurt, when his mouth fell open in shock. "Shit." He muttered into the walky talky. The hall was plastered with the pictures, and people were already staring at them, pulling them off the wall and clearly identifying his best friend. When he came in the hall, they all stared at him.

Everyone knew he was Karofsky's best friend, but they must have thought very little of him if they thought he was going to join in their jests. He was being beckoned over by some of the other students, who wanted to show him.

Azimio flipped and began to rip them all off the wall. Now people were openly staring at him, believing he'd gone insane. They weren't sure what reason he had; was he defending Karofsky or pissed off, discovering his friend was gay?

Yeah, they thought very little of him, but they were going to make sure they knew who they were messing with.

"Who the hell did this?" He yelled, the hall growing silent, as everyone glanced at each other. Azimio only had the information Kurt gave him, but he knew Blaine's father didn't come in and plaster the walls with the photos. There had to have been an accomplice.

Breathing heavily in the silence, Azimio looked around at everyone, no one confessing to it. He was about to yell out again, when people began to whisper fiercely.

Azimio swiveled around to see his friend, David Karofky, standing in horror in the beginning of the hall. Everyone was staring at him, pointing, laughing. They wore disgusted expressions. It was happening.

He could see the turmoil in his best friend's face, and it only served to make him angrier. Karofsky turned to run, but that was when Kurt had skidded up and stopped him. The whole school seemed to be massing to the area where Dave's hugely public humiliation was taking place.

Kurt cursed, but stood beside Karofsky, looking defiant. Everyone had begun talking again, and it was a loud blur of speculations and insults. Azimio wasn't sure what to do; it was going to be three against the whole school at this rate. The other jocks weren't very tolerating to these sorts of things, and if they didn't have them, they didn't really have anyone.

They should have walked in here with a better plan.

Of all the people to come save the day, Azimio wouldn't have imagined it'd be Finn Hudson. He came strolling out of the locker room, holding one of the pictures in his hand, his face scrunched up. His complete lack of regard for everyone around him had drawn the attention to him as he pushed through the crowd. He spotted Kurt, and walked towards him, eyeing Karofsky.

"Kurt, what's going on?" He whispered quietly, mindful of Karofsky.

"Remember the thing I wouldn't talk to you about the other day?"

"Oh." Finn turned around and faced the crowd, his Leatherman jacket adorning him, same as Azmio and Karofsky. He looked at the crowd some more, and then began one of his speeches.

Azimio noticed Kurt roll his eyes, but he didn't really seem as annoyed as he could have been.

"You know what; I am tired of this school. I don't see how this should matter to you. Karofsky is my friend. Sure, we have had our differences…" Azimio knew Hudson was thinking back to all the slushies they'd poured in his face. It made him interested to know where he was going with this. "but he is still my friend. I don't see how any of this should make a difference."

Anyone who played a sport headed towards the locker room in the morning to drop off their stuff. Some of the other jocks were coming in now, or were already there. Some of them looked like they were about to pop a vein. Azimio hoped that meant they were thinking hard on it.

"So… Karofsky's a homo then?" One of them asked eventually.

"No shit," another said in response. He was one of the more reluctant players on bullying tactics and he had talked to Karofsky a couple of times. He just kind of signaled with a curt nod that he didn't really care what was going on, and then backed up into the locker room.

Everyone stared at the locker room entrance for a second, before slowly training their attention back to the main show here.

Karofsky mentally took a deep breath, and calmed himself. " Yes… I'm gay."


End file.
